Screaming Notes
by tastes-like-ciel
Summary: In a twisted sort of way, a nightmare can be a warning of events to come. / "This isn't a dream. It's a warning." Lelouch didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "That's what…he told me."
1. Part 1

Title: Screaming Notes

Genre: Horror/Romance/Friendship

Rating: M

Warnings: AU-ish. SuzaLulu and ZeroLulu. **Graphic and very gory descriptions. Rated M for a reason!!!** Plus…LIME!!! [cue the "dun dun dun" music]

Summary: In a twisted sort of way, a nightmare can be a warning of events to come. // "Simply put, I gave you my heart once and now I'm taking it back."

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.

Serena: For the record, I was crying the entire time I was writing the more graphic parts of this involving sweet Lelouch. (My half-assed attempt at writing something limey notwithstanding. I was too busy blushing and giggling at that to be bothered by the other stuff.) I won't even try to explain exactly how this came to exist, BUT…I did write it in celebration of Halloween. :D And…well…I've been having _very _strange dreams about Lelouch and Zero lately. The last one I had broke my heart because Lelouch was crying over Suzaku betraying him (i.e. throwing him to the Emperor), but Zero was there to comfort him (which was SO adorable). This is written strangely, but I feel that it could have been written no other way (which probably isn't true, but in my mind, it _had_ to be written this way). Other than being totally insane, I cannot really find much of a plot. I suppose that it does have one (somewhere), though. If you find it, tell it to pay me a visit so that I can know it too.

-X-X-X-X-

**00: Plague**

Lelouch Lamperouge would never admit to having a weakness. His pride just would not allow it. However, if he had any weaknesses at all--his stamina notwithstanding--that weakness would be named Nunnally.

Nunnally was his sweet and ever kind little sister. His whole world revolved around that chestnut-haired angel. Whatever she wanted that was within his power to reach, he would give to her without a moments hesitation. If she wanted to laze about in a field of flowers, he would scoop her up and take her to a place abundant in beautifully-colored floral arrangements created by Mother Nature herself. If she wanted him to play dress up with her, then bring on the lace and lipstick because he had just become Nunnally's personal doll for an undetermined amount of time. If she wanted a gentler world, then he would arm himself with weapons of all kinds and start a rebellion to see that desire through.

All of which he had done; however, that last one was still undergoing work.

He knew it could be done, though. He knew that with the army he had raised under the persona of the tactical dark knight Zero and the supernatural weapon of total obedience known as Geass that a witch had bestowed unto him, Nunnally's wish would be fulfilled. Sadly, blood needed to be shed in order to grant her wish, but there was not much that he could do about that. Humans could be such terribly cruel and stubborn creatures. They would believe in an ideal that called for the oppression and even slaughter of millions just because they had been given the impression that they were superior beings.

There was so much hate saturating the Earth that it made him want to embed a tiny silver bullet into his own head, to drill it so deeply into his skull that not even the best surgeon could remove it. He kept a gun in his possession for emergencies. Why not use it to escape Britannia's oppression? He would not lie to himself. The thought _had_ crossed his mind before, but it was always followed by a guilty conscience.

If he did that, where would that leave Nunnally?

The only reason he bothered to trudge through his dreary day to day existence was for her. He refused to leave her in a world in which happiness was nearly nonexistent and he would never dream of hurting her. So he continued to exist for her, causing rivers of the blood that made his insides churn to flow and flow in order to make her that kinder world she dreamed of.

That brought another thought to mind.

Blood, another weakness he refused to speak of.

He would _never_ confide in _anyone_ his fear of the crimson substance. Not even Nunnally knew of it.

The fear had first surfaced when he was just a child, back during the day that he had witnessed his mother's murder. He had been plagued with nightmares of her death throughout his childhood and would experience them even now.

Not all of them contained his mother, though. More often than not, his nightmares would be saturated with rainfalls of blood and forests filled with corpses.

He hated them. He wished they would leave him be.

But as years had passed and he had aged into the aloof teenager that he was, the nightmares had grown more violent, more…disturbing.

**01: Bound**

The first thing that he became aware of was the blinding light shining overhead, its intense gaze glaring down at him in an almost hate-filled stare. The intensity of the light's shine made his eyes water and forced him to keep them shut in order to avoid the pain that the light's gaze caused.

The light did not share the same fierce glow that the sun held and it was too close to be a florescent light shining down from a ceiling. Perhaps it was a lamp of some kind? From his brief glance, he had noted an outline of something circular surrounding the light. Many lamps were given circular shapes to help focus their light onto a particular area. Such lamps were often placed upon desks to give light to late night readers or studiers.

But why was it glaring down upon him so hatefully?

_Where _was he?

He tried to turn his head away from the light's glare, but he felt a cold strip of metal press against the sides of his head and his eyes flew open despite the stinging that came. Squinting his eyes into slits, he tried to roll them upward to see what object was restraining his head and he tried to arch his back upward to give himself a better view of the object.

But when he tried to bend his elbows and knees, he discovered that there was something restricting his arms and legs, too.

His heartbeat steadily began to increase as fear wound its icy tendrils around his veins. He tugged at his bonds, testing their security.

He wasn't able to move even an inch away from the soft surface underneath him.

Fear's icy grip continued to wind up the intricate design of twists and turns that were connected to his heart.

His heartbeat increased once more and he felt panic begin to swell within his chest.

He tried tugging at his bonds again, his pulls becoming more desperate as success continued to elude him. These bonds were too secure and judging by how many strips of rough fabric continuously brushed against his bare skin, there were too many holding him down.

Rough pieces of fabric wound up his bare legs and lined his arms in uncountable numbers. (Was it three? Maybe four that he felt clamped around his arms? He didn't even want to think about how many were wrapped around his legs…there was just so many…) His wrists and ankles were secured as well.

He felt so…_exposed_. So…_vulnerable_.

From what he could feel, he was wearing no familiar clothing of any kind. His arms and legs were completely bare and he was not wearing any underwear. The only thing that he could feel covering him was a thin gown of some kind. It had short sleeves and only seemed to reach near the middle of his thighs.

'_What is this? Where am I?!_' he panicked. '_Why…why am I being restrained?!_'

He knew he should try his best not to panic. He knew that he should keep a level-head and use his quick thinking to get himself out of whatever situation he had fallen into.

But he was…scared…and alone.

And for some odd reason, he was strangely lethargic.

**02: Stranger**

He was not sure exactly how long he had been lying there, lost in his thoughts. It felt like ages had passed since he had first awoken to find himself in this place--that smelled strongly of antiseptic. And during this time, he had tried to think of ways to break away from his restraints and he tried yanking against them to perhaps loosen them, but success still eluded him. He pulled and tugged and yanked and struggled until his skin became raw and his energy dwindled. He would wait a little while after this, allowing his energy to return and would start his struggling all over again.

He heaved heavy breaths as his eyes closed, giving up on his latest attempt at escaping.

'_I-It's no use._' he despaired.

It was futile and he knew that, but he just did not know what else to do. His thoughts were only going so far and he was afraid that lack of movement would force him to sleep.

He was thoroughly trapped until his captor decided to release him--_if_ they were willing to release him.

The sudden sound of a door creaking open made him jump and his heart began to beat wildly within his chest as fear squeezed it mercilessly. He heard footfalls echo throughout the room and heard the door creak close, clanging shut with an ominous metallic sound.

When the footfalls ceased, he jumped again as he felt fingers brush against his leg.

The fingers were warm and they sent shivers up his spine as they fluttered up his leg, sliding against the skin between his bonds with the lightest of touches. The fingers were obviously in no hurry to leave the inviting softness of his milky white skin. They took their sweet time in crawling up his exposed leg while he lie helpless to do anything about it.

He squirmed against his restraints, the light touches filling his mind with frightening thoughts about what this stranger might do to him. The thoughts forced various obscenities and protests to bubble up within his throat. He tried to shout these protests at the stranger.

But he found that he could not speak.

No matter how hard he tried to tell the stranger to stop touching him and to untie the bonds shackling him to this vulnerable position…the words refused to sound. They would not come and that hand continued its journey upward until finally reaching the hem of the thin gown that kept him from being completely naked.

His breath hitched as the fingers slowly dipped under the material to continue their journey up his leg, the gown gradually bunching as it was pushed along with the hand.

The fingers skimmed up his inner thigh, causing him to jerk against his restraints as they briefly brushed against his exposed member. The fingers stilled for moment at his reaction, as if deciding what to do next. The moment was brief and the fingers flicked out to touch him again, seeming to take delight in the struggling that he insisted on doing despite knowing that he could not break away from his bonds.

He heard the stranger chuckle in amusement and their fingers skimmed back down his inner thigh. They changed direction after reaching a restraint that was wrapped around his mid-thigh and trickled up to his abdomen, using deliberately slow strokes that made his skin tingle in the worst of ways.

_Oh, _he was _so_ terrified.

He was completely helpless, completely at the mercy of this molesting stranger. Whatever this person chose to do to him, it would happen.

Torture.

Rape.

Murder.

Either three were possible.

'_If only I could use my Geass…_'

But the stranger was remaining out of his sight. (All things considered, that was a smart move for this person to make. But could this mean that he _knew_ this supposed stranger? Had they met before?)

The stranger's movements held a gentleness that was not only contradictory to this situation…they were also familiar. He was not sure how to explain it, but these touches felt similar to ones that he had felt before. Teasing and caring, very similar to the touches he would receive from--But that could not be! He would never be treated in such a degrading manner by the one person in this world who had sworn him a knight's oath.

To love and protect, to cherish and trust.

For all eternity.

Of course, technically, such an oath could have no standing with him. Despite being of royal blood--exiled or not--, his beloved had willingly handed over their allegiance to the very country that had not only stolen their right to be considered human, but it had torn apart his life.

'_Suzaku._'

He found his thoughts pleading with whoever was listening to please allow him to return to his knight's side, if only for a few scarce moments. He wished that Suzaku were here. Suzaku would not allow this person to touch him in such intimate places. Those places were reserved for the brunet alone. This lustful demon _had no right_!!

Said demon allowed another chuckle to slip off its poisonous tongue and he could feel its almost claw-like nails scrap against his side as the demon's hand slid away from his vulnerable skin. He felt its fingers brush against his stomach as the hand grabbed hold of the gown. The gown was tugged back into place, shielding his body from the roaming eyes of his captor. (Though he could not see this demon's face, he could _feel_ the prickle of its eyes staring at him.)

What did this sick creature have in store for him? What was going to happen now?

Would anyone be able to hear his screams should they be forcibly ripped from his throat?

The clattering of metal against metal startled him, the noise originating from what he deduced to be a table of some kind. It was hard to tell due to that light continually glaring down at him. (Was he imagining things or did the light's hatred for him seem to grow?)

Suddenly, the light's glare disappeared as he watched a hand gently push it away.

**03: Surgery**

The stranger began to hum to their self, the melody's eerie tune echoing throughout the room. It carried a familiar ring and the voice humming the tune sounded so familiar. He found himself listening closely in hopes of recognizing the voice.

Then the stranger's humming dissolved into quiet words.

"Kagome, Kagome…kago no naka no tori wa…"

'_That voice…no…please._' he found himself pleading, tears trying their hardest to blur his vision.

He heard the clinking of metal again and from the corner of his eye, he could see a white-clad arm rise up to its owner's face, as if they were inspecting something.

"Itsu itsu deyaru?"

He remembered hearing this song long ago, back during the beginning of his exile.

Back when he first met his Suzaku.

Suzaku had actually been the one to teach the song to him. It was an old children's game called "Kagome Kagome". The game was similar to one that his mother had taught him called "Ring Around the Rosie", but there were a few differences.

The major difference was the song that was sung and the second difference was how the game was played.

In "Ring Around the Rosie", children held hands and ran around in a circle, singing the song. At the end of the song, all the children would scream "And we all fall down!!" and would plop to the ground in giggling heaps.

In "Kagome Kagome", one child would be chosen as the "oni" or "demon" of the game and would sit in the middle of the circle with their eyes covered. The other children would then join hands and would run around the "oni", chanting the song. At the end of the song, the children would ask "Now who is the one standing behind you?" and the middle child would have to guess the name of the person behind them. If they guessed correctly, that person would take their place as the "oni" and the game would begin anew. If they guessed incorrectly, then they would remain as the "oni" until they could guess right.

He had not wanted to play, but Nunnally expressed an interest in playing…so he grudgingly agreed to play.

Nunnally had become the first "oni", leaving he and Suzaku to join hands and chant the song as she giggled in the middle of it all. It had been rather easy to figure out who was standing behind who--there was only three of them playing after all--, but Nunnally and Suzaku had still had a lot of fun.

He had fun too…but was just to stubborn to admit it.

When Suzaku became the "oni", he and Nunnally twirled around the brunet as they sang. When the song ended, the two siblings would play a quick game of "Rock-Paper-Scissors" to decide who would be behind Suzaku.

Nunnally won, of course.

And when he became the "oni", Suzaku and Nunnally decided to forget all about the game's rules and "attack" him.

Their reasoning had been that he was being a stubborn grouch and they just wanted to hear him laugh, but that did not excuse their act of tickling him until he cried for mercy.

Jerks.

In any case, he was a fast learner and had learned the song rather quickly.

But to hear it again--now--in such a familiar voice…it was terrifying.

He heard the soft pat of something being placed near his head and he heard a glassy tapping nose mingle with the stranger's seemingly soothing voice.

"Yoake no ban ni…"

As the fresh words rolled off the demon's tongue, he felt a pinch within his left forearm as something sharp was stuck into him.

He wanted to yell, to scream at this stranger to let him go. He wanted to be set free and he wanted to see his knight again--which was something he feared had already happened. But like his past attempts, this proved futile. His mouth opened, but no words would come out. He desperately began to pull at his restraints as tears finally began to trickle out of his eyes.

He hoped that this was some cruel joke or a terrible dream. He shut his eyes tightly and wished for it all to end.

He heard the other click their tongue in disapproval as the needle and syringe was set down.

"Now, now." the other chided, the sound of a chair scraping against tile flooring as they stood. "Lelouch, relax."

He felt a pair of hands cup his cheeks and his watery eyes opened partially despite himself.

He regretted it. He _really_ regretted opening his eyes.

Because the sight of the other's face tore at his heart strings and forced more tears to fall from his eyes.

'_S-Suzaku…_'

The brunet was smiling down at him in the sweetest of ways and his spectacle-covered emerald irises held a warmth that was all wrong for the situation.

"The medicine I just gave you will help you to relax." Suzaku informed the frightened teen.

The brunet slid a hand up to wipe at the tears that were drenching Lelouch's face.

"It's good to be relaxed during an operation, after all."

Lelouch's eyes widened as the brunet pulled away and began to sing the next line of the children's melody that he had been quietly singing moments before.

"Tsuru to kame ga subetta…"

Lelouch stared in silent horror as Suzaku lifted a silver scalpel up in one hand.

He tried to struggle--despite knowing its futility--, but he made a horrid discovery.

He could not move. He was completely paralyzed.

"Silly little Lulu." Suzaku cooed, the hand holding the scalpel drifting towards the neckline of Lelouch's gown. "Did I not just tell you that I gave you medication to help you relax?"

Lelouch's breathing became erratic and his chest ached with the intense beating that his heart was undergoing. Tears continued to pour out of his eyes, damping his hair and the cloth beneath him.

'_Suzaku, please let me go!!_' he cried. '_I don't know what I've done to upset you!! Whatever I've done, I'm sorry!! I'm so sorry!! Please don't do this!!_'

He felt a slight pulling at the front of his gown and heard the rip of fabric as the scalpel cut through the thin material with ease.

"I know you must be wondering how it came to this." Suzaku began suddenly, taking his time in slicing through the fabric. "Well, there really isn't much to explain. Simply put, I gave you my heart once and now I'm taking it back."

Suzaku set the scalpel to the side for a moment, his fingers flicking the separated pieces of fabric away from his target. Once that was done, he reached out for his scalpel and held it up.

'_Suzaku, please stop!!!_'

Lelouch wanted to scream that. He wanted to scream other things too. Things like "_I thought you loved me!!!_" and other things along the lines of "_You promised, Suzaku!!! You swore yourself to me!!!_".

'_I…love you…_' he wept. '_Doesn't that mean something to you?_'

Suzaku brought the scalpel down to the teen's chest, the instrument's sharp edge hovering over the flawless expanse of skin separating it from the vital organ beating below.

And Lelouch was given no warning except the sharp pain that flooded his senses.

The scalpel's sharp edge cut downward, leaving blooming roses of scarlet in its wake. It cut hard and deep--as was its purpose--and once it had created a neat 10-inch slit, it slid out and hovered over its prey once more, the scarlet petals it had collected glistening and dripping down its silvery surface.

Rivers of scarlet poured out of the fresh cut, staining Lelouch's pale skin and trickling over his sides where it began to seep into the white cloth of the gurney he was strapped to.

Suzaku stared down at him, admiring the damage he and his instrument had caused.

"As beautiful inside as you are outside." he complimented, his lips set into a seemingly permanent smile. "Forgive me if I screw up any incisions, medical books can only teach a person so much, you know."

He appeared to be ignorant--or perhaps _uncaring_--of the pain he had caused his patient.

Fresh tears blurred Lelouch's vision and his chest ached with an intense pain. His wound was stinging fiercely and his breathes were becoming labored as fear and betrayal were squeezing precious life from his heart. A scream stuck in his throat as Suzaku's scalpel plunged into him once more, slicing through layers of skin and muscle as it began to cut a horizontal line across his blood-soaked chest.

It _hurt_.

It hurt so very, very much.

But Lelouch was not sure which was more painful: this torture he was suffering through or the knowledge that Suzaku did not care.

Many more screams stuck in his throat as his would-be lover sliced and sawed through layers of tissue and bone, all in a mission to reach the beating organ underneath.

Splatters of blood lie in puddles surrounding the blood-stained gurney as heavy droplets dripped over the its sides. The scarlet substance was trickling down to Lelouch's abdomen and pooling within his navel. Suzaku's hands and the ends of his sleeves were thoroughly saturated in the scarlet substance.

'_Su…zaku…_'

Lelouch could feel warm liquid filling his lungs through the puncture that Suzaku's scalpel had "accidentally" created. It was becoming so hard to breath and once a cough of crimson splattered out his mouth--and consequentially onto Suzaku's face--, his eyes slipped shut.

His slowing heart was beating its last few beats and he could feel his consciousness slipping.

"Ushiro no shoumen daare?" Suzaku sang out suddenly, his voice returning to that misleading soothing tone it had carried earlier.

-X-X-X-X-

Serena: This was _supposed_ to be a one-shot, but then I got down to this part and I thought, "It would be scarier if I left people to wonder whether Lelouch was dreaming or not.". So, I just decided to make this a two-shot instead. [shrugs] Meh. **Oh, yes…and the last part **_**will not **_**be posted until Halloween night.** [is shot] Oi, Oi!! Please don't kill me!!! D: [flees with an angry mob chasing her] [blows whistle; mob halts] By the way, that part with the children's game "Kagome Kagome", the translation of the last line may or may not be completely correct. It _is_ similar to what it actually says, but I suppose that it depends on the translator. I got the last line's translation from some website. The same thing is on Wikipedia too…so meh.


	2. Part 2

Serena: **Something terrible happened.** This second part, which I've had sitting in my laptop waiting to be posted, got deleted somehow!!! DX I honestly can't explain it. I've search **everywhere** for it. I even looked in places on my computer that it couldn't possibly be!! But nothing…[cries] I have to write it all over again!!! No!!! [sighs] I tried my hardest to rewrite it all before Halloween ended, but I couldn't remember everything I wrote and even if I did, it probably would not have gotten finished anyway. **So, this will have three parts instead of two.** I am so sorry about this. T.T And jeez, I couldn't even get the best part rewritten for you (which is scary SuzaLulu lime). Ima go drown myself now. [sulks]

I would like to thank the following people for reviewing: Nusku, MithLuin, teno-hikari, XXStrangestFruitXX, Spunkay Skunk, Tomoe, Tainted Ink And Paper, Yamiro, D E M Z Y, Altair718, Kraughne, Vampsparx57, AkemiKae, and Izka!

Warnings: AU-ish. SuzaLulu and ZeroLulu. **Graphic and very gory descriptions. Rated M for a reason!!!**

Summary: In a twisted sort of way, a nightmare can be a warning of events to come. // The room was filled with corpses.

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.

-X-X-X-X-

**04: Sickness**

Awakening to the sound of his own anguished screams and finding himself drenched in sweat had been less than pleasant, but considering the circumstances, his awakening was not completely unwelcome.

The side effects, however, were another matter entirely.

For about three days after he had awoken from his "surgical mishap", Lelouch was stricken with an unknown illness that left him bedridden all hours of the day. Everyone was naturally worrying themselves over his health and wanted to remain by his side in order to take proper care of him, but Lelouch refused to see anyone. (Nunnally, of course, was an exception, but even Nunnally could not remain within Lelouch's presence for very long without said prince politely requesting to be left alone.)

This sudden self-isolation only made everyone's worry increase. Lelouch wouldn't eat, he absolutely _refused_ to sleep, and he would not venture outside his room for any reason.

He had his reasons for doing this, though.

He declined any food offered to him because the memories of his chest being sliced open and his innards being punctured had left him with a nauseous feeling that only increased when food was presented to him. He refused to sleep because he was terrified of being pulled back into that ghastly nightmare and having to relive the horror of having his best friend performing a haphazard surgical procedure in order to remove his still beating heart. As for his refusal to leave the safety of his room…well…it wasn't that he was afraid of the outside world. It was just…_Suzaku was out there._

He was loathe to admit this…but he was terrified of seeing Suzaku.

His dream had been just that: a dream. But despite knowing this and despite knowing that Suzaku would _never_ hurt him in such a way, he just…the mere thought of it freaked him out. (After all, how often did someone normally so loving towards others go off the deep end and start slicing up the people they cared about?)

Suzaku was many things, but insane was not one of them. He was loyal, brave, and could be such an idiot at times, but the words "sadist" and "satanic" did not make up any part of the brunet's personality.

On the other hand, Lelouch was not entirely certain that he actually knew Suzaku anymore. If he compared the Suzaku he once knew with the one he thought he knew now, the two were just not the same person. (Lelouch was fairly certain that past Suzaku would kick current Suzaku's ass for ever daring to side with Britannia.)

So, it probably was not impossible for Suzaku to try--and that's where he would force his mind to stop thinking about it. (It was simply less stressful for him to imagine Suzaku getting his ass kicked by his younger self.)

Lelouch knew he was acting rather childishly by choosing to hide out in his room like this--hell, C.C. had taken great joy in mocking him about it the first day of his self-exile--, but he just could not face Suzaku after having such a dream about him. (And, of course, he had suffered through a series of intense but fleeting pains that--scarily enough--matched the places on his body that his Dream Suzaku had plunged his scalpel into. There was no explanation for the pains and he could not count the number of times he had run his hands along his chest in search of nonexistent cuts.)

And all of this paranoia was due to that one little dream he had dreamt three nights prior.

**05: Insomnia**

The first night of his self-imposed isolation was filled with a quietness that made him shiver with paranoia. No matter which direction he looked and no matter how many times his eyes scanned the enclosed area of his room, he could not seem to feel safe. It was ridiculous and he felt irritated at his own stupidity, but that irritation could not smother the feelings of fear and unease that coursed through his veins.

The entire night, he remained in an upright position with his bed sheets clutched in his fists, ready to throw them over his head if needed. (What was it about hiding under the cover of blankets that seemed to soothe frightened children?)

Lelouch was no child, but even he admitted--to himself and _not_ to others--that he felt a little more at ease with a "security blanket" at hand in case a scalpel-wielding shadow decided to slither through the cracks in his window. Shadows could not be affected by Geass after all…but that was a theory that _someone else_ had thought up. (Because Lelouch certainly had _not_ been over thinking the situation due to his paranoia. That would just be ridiculous.)

-X-X-X-

The second night of his self-imposed isolation, Lelouch had begun to experience hallucinations. (Just one, actually.)

Several times throughout the night, he could have sworn that he had seen Zero standing at his door, like a sentinel eternally guarding the entrance to a decrepit tomb. (Perhaps "Like a knight guarding his sleeping princess." would have been a better metaphor, but his room had been so damn quiet and cold that it seemed very much like a tomb at the time.)

The masked apparition had remained at his post _all night_, watching him. (The face of Zero's mask had been turned in his direction. So it had seemed that the hallucination had been looking at him.)

Lelouch had been unnerved by it. It made no sense for the symbol of justice that he himself had created to be randomly standing within his room. Zero was an alias he had created for himself, a strong leader that people would follow regardless of the destination they were being lead to. Zero was an idea, imaginary almost. By himself, Zero had no real identity and he had no life. When Lelouch donned the mask, that was when this idea lost its nothingness and gained a life of its own.

An idea should _not_ be standing on its own…at his door…_staring_ at him.

And when the paranoid prince had finally decided to throw the covers over his head, he had felt completely justified in this childish action.

He had ignored the amused chuckle he _thought_ he had heard upon doing this. (Ideas could not do that. He had imagined the whole thing.)

-X-X-X-

The third and final night of his self-imposed isolation became the final night for a reason.

He passed out.

**06: Chill**

The first thing that he became aware of was that he was lying against a soft yet brittle-like material. It felt so fragile, as if the tiniest movement would cause it to disintegrate.

Immediately after this discovery, he began to notice a deathly chill creeping its way along his skin and he shivered. The icy touch curled around his shivering limbs and seeped through his freezing skin to wrap around his bones, making him feel as if he were submerged in a body of freezing water.

He could not hear the sound of air blowing in through a vent or fan. It was very quiet within the room--perhaps _too_ quiet--, so he would have heard a sound similar to air blowing. On the other hand, perhaps cold air _was_ blowing in from a vent, but it was simply too quiet for him to hear. (For some reason, he doubted this possibility. Somewhere--in the back of his mind--he knew that the air system was too corroded to function properly, if at all.)

But if no air was blowing in through a vent of some kind, then _why_ was it so cold?

He inhaled, suddenly overcome with this intense need to breathe. He panted and gasped as air filled his lungs. They ached each time they expanded and they burned from the icy chill of the air. (He felt as if he had not taken a breath in days, but that was ridiculous…right?)

The burning sensation in his lungs made him cough, which made his lungs ache even more. His eyes remained tightly closed and he kept a hand clamped over his mouth as he tried to gain control over his choked coughs and irregular breathing.

Oh, it hurt to breathe, but what could he do? Stopping his breathing was out of the question because he needed the air to survive. (Although, the air carried a foul smell. It was stale and bitter, lifeless almost. He would rather not breathe it in, but he had no choice.)

He groaned as he gave one last painful cough. His throat stung with a terrible itch and he had to stop himself from clawing at it in a vain attempt of relieving himself of the irritating feeling.

'_This is a terrible way to wake up._' he mused. '_But I suppose that going two and a half days without sleep will do that to a person._'

He sighed as he opened his eyes to the darkness surrounding him and he pushed himself into an upright position, his arms shaking from a combination of his fatigue and the freezing temperature.

"Hm?"

His eyes narrowed as a dark object caught his attention. It was hanging a few feet away from him and it had a shape that could only be best described as…human.

Lelouch's heartbeat began to increase as fear began to crawl up his spine.

He turned slightly--taking care not to look away from the dark anomaly--and blindly searched the wall behind him for a light switch. (He could not explain why, but he knew that a light switch was attached to the wall behind him. It was odd, having such knowledge. And for some reason, he felt that this knowledge belonged to someone else.)

Relief flooded him when his fingers brushed against the familiar shape of the switch and he wasted no time in flicking it up.

His eyes squinted at the sudden flood of light that flickered to life within the room.

But he really wished that he had just left the light off.

The dark object he had seen was dangling from the ceiling, hanging by a silver hook embedded into its tangerine-haired skull.

It was…someone he knew.

And she wasn't the only person inhabiting the room…there were _others_.

A hand shakily covered his mouth as his eyes widened in terrified realization. (Because he now knew why the room was so cold.)

The room was filled with corpses.

-X-X-X-X-

Serena: I just barely made it. Once again, I am so sorry about the original second half disappearing. T.T I'll do my best to finish the rest soon. …I still can't believe that it just disappeared like that, though. [sulks] I searched for it so many times…_where_ did it go?!

On a happier note…**Happy Halloween!!!** And remember to hit that panic button if you see something spooky!! lol (If you watched the Ghost Hunters Halloween special, then you will understand what I just said. XD)


	3. Part 3

Serena: After struggling with making the lime not so vague, losing everything again, and then having to rewrite it all again, I finally just said "Fuck it.", wrote what I could, plopped what I couldn't finish into a separate chapter, and uploaded this finished part like it is. :U so yeah. More chapters shall be happening. I'm sorry! Happy Halloween, mann~ (SHOT)

I would like to thank the following people for reviewing:…uhhh…everyone who reviewed last!

Warnings: AU-ish. SuzaLulu and ZeroLulu. Lime…is practically nonexistent. :I So just forget I ever talked about it. Kay? Kay.

Summary: In a twisted sort of way, a nightmare can be a warning of events to come. / "…I think you'll find that I can, _Your Highness_."

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.

-X-X-X-X-

**07: Madness**

Shirley was completely and utterly devoid of clothing. The once healthy, pink glow of her skin had been reduced to a dismal grayish splotch of frozen tissue and her once supple and smooth curves were now bumpy and misshapen (various ugly stitches sewn into the flesh at odd angles where dried scarlet had gathered). Her messy tangerine tresses still retained their lovely vibrant color, but many strands were clumped together in large lumps and many others had tangled themselves in knotsaround the crimson-tipped hook jutting out of her open mouth (that seemed was frozen into an eternal scream).

Lelouch felt bile bubbling up the walls of his esophagus and a hand was thrown over his mouth in an instant as he gagged. He tried not to, but seeing Shirley hanging from the ceiling in such a painful way (dear God, had she been strung up like that while still alive?) proved too much for Lelouch's mind and stomach to handle. He leaned over the gurney and vomited.

'_Sh-Shirley…_'

How long? How long had Shirley suffered like this? How much torment did she endure before death's mercy had finally taken her away from her tormenter? Lelouch prayed that Shirley had not suffered for long (he would like to pray that Shirley had never suffered at all, but…reality was a cruel mistress).

He didn't mean to, but when Lelouch rose from his position over the gurney's side, his eyes landed on Shirley's hanging corpse and his stomach gave a lurch. The room was quickly filled with the echoing sounds of gasps, coughs, and splatters as Lelouch leaned over for round two.

It hurt so, _so_ very much to see Shirley like this. She never hurt anyone. She never said unusually cruel or terrible things about anyone. She was always willing to help anyone in need, too. Why would anyone do this to her? She was a good person and didn't deserve this torturous death. Why anyone would hurt her in such a sick way? Why? _Why?_

Lelouch loved Shirley like any good friend would love another. That's how it was to be friends with someone. You loved them and honestly cared what happened to them. They were almost like extensions of your family (the side you liked, at any rate).

The whole thing just made him so sick. He wanted _out_.

To add to his disgust, there were _others_ just like Shirley inhabiting the room (their lifeless bodies twisted and pained into a thing that was only a horrible reminder of their tormented last moments). One, Lelouch noticed, was even quite young; much younger than Shirley (though certainly not the youngest in the room, by the looks of things). The young child (even children…oh why?) was male by the looks of things and the boy couldn't have been over fifteen or fourteen years of age. The child's skin was ashen and his glassy, orchid irises sent a chill up Lelouch's spine. Unlike Shirley, the child was fully clothed; however, the clothing was burnt and shredded, allowing bits of reddened and blackened flesh to peek through-in places where the cloth had not melted into the skin, that is. Strands of his short, chestnut-colored hair were singed and patches of it were even missing were the scalp had been burnt to the bone. There were also discolored bruises wrapping around his neck in the telltale shape of hands.

The poor boy…

As Lelouch's eyes continued their journey around the room (out of morbid curiosity, he supposed), they began to water of their own accord. (Whether they watered because of the burning bile still waiting in the back of his throat or because he was in mourning was anyone's guess.)

Puddles of coagulated scarlet (thick and goopy like jelly) dirtied every surface from the ceiling to the floor. Countless silver hooks and many strange surgical tools hung from nails embedded into the cracked, tile walls and some even clung to the lifeless flesh of many a corpse. Rotten, blood covered gurneys were shoved against each other into corners (one even had a bloodied sheet cast over a lumpy shape that resembled a human body) and the bodies…

…oh, dear God, the _bodies_.

Some had been carelessly dumped atop one another in a corner of the room and some were simply slumped against the wall or sprawled across the floor in awkward positions. Many were naked and many were clothed, but what they all shared were tormented expressions (mouths frozen into an agonized but silent scream).

From his position atop his own gurney, Lelouch couldn't help but have fleeting (admittedly ridiculous) thoughts.

Would any of these unfortunate people suddenly rise? Would they speak? Lelouch knew it was nothing more than childish paranoia talking, but he wasn't so sure what to believe in anymore. The dead were supposed to stay dead, but through the immortal witch C.C., he had learned otherwise. Sometimes the dead didn't stay dead, but Lelouch wanted to believe that, in this case, they would remain motionless. He was _not_ going to attempt moving until he was certain he would not have his skin torn off by the unhappy dead, after all.

Suddenly and without warning, a creaky, metallic screech echoed throughout the room and startled Lelouch. His heartbeat quickened at the noise (what if it was the killer coming back?) and his eyes darted about the room in search of either a better hiding place or the sound's source (whichever came first despite his hope that it be the former).

Slow footfalls echoed throughout the room and they gradually drew closer and closer to the little gurney Lelouch was shivering on top of. Lelouch leaned closer to the gurney's end and hid himself as best he could behind a thick, dirty curtain that was hanging by rusty rings from the ceiling. Unfortunately, the curtain did a terribly poor job of concealing him. He knew his chances of remaining unnoticed were slim, but he didn't exactly have a lot of options available to him. If he tried to move, he would be heard and with his terrible physical capabilities and weak stamina being what they were, he would be captured and dragged back into this abyss of death and ice in mere minutes (and then there was the mess his stomach had thrown onto the floor to consider). Still, there was a chance he would go unnoticed and Lelouch was willing to take what little chance he had at surviving (even if it meant he had to hide inside a killer's paradise while said killer quite possibly murdered yet another innocent person).

"Mew! Mew!"

At that moment, the sound of feline mewling reached Lelouch's ears and he mentally congratulated himself on managing to not jump at the mewling's volume (it had honestly startled him). He heard a sigh a moment or so after and the echoing footfalls ceased as loud purring filled the room.

"Who said you could come in here?" Lelouch heard someone ask. "You _know_ this room is off-limits so be a good boy and go chase after some mice or something."

Upon hearing that dreadful (yet delightful) voice, Lelouch froze and bit his lip to keep himself from allowing even the most minuscule of sounds to slip away from his lips. He _couldn't_ be found. He _couldn't_ be heard….not by that voice. Not again. Why _that_ voice? _His_ voice! Lelouch would have gladly listened to _anyone_ else's voice (even his father's) in this place. At least everything would make more sense to him then. At least the world would stop _spinning_.

_Please don't find me_, Lelouch pleaded mentally, frightened by the thought of being discovered by that voice. _Go away. Go away, Suzaku!_

"Meeeeeewww!" the feline mewled yet again and a rustle of fabric could be heard (probably the cat rubbing against Suzaku's legs as it continued to beg for attention).

Lelouch heard Suzaku sigh again and then a curse was heard along with, what sounded like, Suzaku stumbling.

"_Stop that_. How many times have I told you not to curl around my legs like that? _Listen to me_. I'll play with you some other time." Suzaku stated and he sounded somewhat annoyed. "Now go away."

The feline's purrs were relentless despite the edge in Suzaku's voice, however. They persisted and, strangely enough, only seemed to increase in volume (almost as if the feline were drifting closer to the gurney Lelouch was occupying).

"_Arthur_, I said get ou-"

If this had been a video game, this would have been the moment where the music began to swell in an ominous warning. Funny how that usually did not bode well for the player, but many times, it only happened as something of a scare tactic. Lelouch, however, was not in nor was he playing a video game (but, _oh_, how he wished he was!). As much as Lelouch hated it, this place was _real_ (or, at least, it was real to him).

For the exception of the feline's purring, the room suddenly plunged into a chilling silence and Lelouch had the strangest sensation of being alone, but he could _feel_ eyes gazing at him hungrily. And Lelouch knew (he _knew_) that he had been seen yet he found himself unable to move in an attempted escape. Suzaku would have caught him regardless, but the fact of the matter was _Lelouch couldn't even bother to try_.

Time seemed to stand still for Lelouch as deliberately slow footfalls began to echo throughout the room and edge closer to him.

"Well, well, _well_." Suzaku spoke in an overly delighted tone and a short chuckle slipped past his lips. "I see my favorite doll has come back to me. So glad to see you awake again, Lelouch~."

'_He __**dare**__ refer to me as his __**doll**__?_' Lelouch seethed and he was vaguely aware that the anger he felt wasn't completely his own. '_That I'm nothing more than his __**plaything**__?_'

Suzaku's footsteps continued to echo and another chuckle reached Lelouch's ears.

"I can see you've been admiring them." Suzaku commented and Lelouch heard the brunet make a grunt of disgust (must be due to the vomit, Lelouch mused).

Lelouch scoffed and glared down at the gurney for lack of a Suzaku to glare at.

"Hardly." Lelouch responded and he swallowed a lump that had formed within his throat. "What do you think this place is? An art museum? You're _sick_."

"There are arguments to the contrary, love." Suzaku replied and if Lelouch listened closely enough, he could hear malice tinting Suzaku's words. "_I'm_ not the sick one."

The footfalls suddenly vanished and a chilling silence blanketed the two (would be three, but Arther seemed to have vanished) of them. Lelouch wasn't sure how to retaliate to Suzaku's jab, but throwing out a better insult was the least of Lelouch's concerns at present. He was cornered in a room filled with corpses and their killer was standing right behind the curtain at his back. He had nothing available as a weapon to defend himself with and running at this point would be pointless. Besides, Suzaku had always been faster than him…

The curtain suddenly flew back with a flourish and Lelouch was immediately assaulted by the eager hands snaking around his waist shamelessly. Lelouch's own hands automatically flew up to pull the groping appendages off, but one of the wandering hands quickly snatched up one of his wrists a little too forcefully and the other wrist was quickly shown the same treatment as the hand at Lelouch's chest grabbed his and held it there. Even then, Lelouch continued to struggle and this only seemed to amuse Suzaku rather than irritate him.

"You always were _so_ stubborn, but I guess that's just part of your appeal…among other things." Suzaku dared to comment and Lelouch felt the deranged smirk Suzaku wore when said brunet flicked his tongue up the back of Lelouch's neck.

Lelouch shivered at the unexpected, wet contact and he tried to lean away, but Suzaku refused to give Lelouch the luxury of personal space and merely pulled the struggling prince closer.

"_Let me go!_" Lelouch demanded and he was pleased that he managed to inject a commanding tone into his voice. "You _cannot_ keep me here!"

A sharp nip at his ear made Lelouch wince and the fingers curled around his wrists tightened.

"…I think you'll find that I can, _Your Highness_." Suzaku replied and that malice from before had returned. "Don't worry, though. You'll enjoy _some_ parts of this."

Lelouch was too distracted by the teeth gnawing at his neck to respond.

**08: Unrest**

Lelouch couldn't help the shivers that racked his body as he was pushed against the chilled, dirtied tile wall that made up the faux morgue he was trapped inside. He made a tiny, pained noise as Suzaku roughly shoved his arms up against either side of his head. Clearly, this wasn't going to end well…

Suzaku leaned in, leaving little space between he and his captive.

"Do you have any idea how amazing you are?" Suzaku asked and his voice (quiet and sultry) did little to ease Lelouch's concerns. "And I do mean _really_ amazing?"

A visible puff of air billowed out of Lelouch's mouth in a surprised gasp when Suzaku quite suddenly thrust a knee between his legs.

"Did you know that you're hard to stop thinking about?" Suzaku continued. "And I mean, _really_ hard to stop thinking about? It's…it's _really_ crazy, Lelouch. You just _refuse_ to leave my mind and..._it's so infuriating._"

There was a quick shuffling and shifting of Suzaku's arms and, at the end of these sudden movements, Lelouch heard an ominous metallic click and felt something smooth and solid circle his wrists. Lelouch held his breath.

'_What is he-?_'

Lelouch took a moment to glance up at his wrists and promptly released his breath. A pair of shackles that were chained to the wall had been clamped around his wrists.

Lelouch's heart thudded once and then twice while his eyes widened in a mixture of emotions.

'_No_.'

His heart thudded again, but at an increased pace.

'_**No**__._'

Though he knew it useless, he tugged against the chains the moment Suzaku's hands slid away.

The chains rattled and his arms barely moved.

'_**No**__. I cannot-I __**will not **__let him do this again!_'

Lelouch's thoughts felt strong (in his opinion), but…could he even do anything to save himself? Using Geass on Suzaku was impossible (as he had already used it on Suzaku once before) and attempting to do any sort of physical counterattack against Suzaku…well, that was plain and simple suicide. Besides, with his arms chained, all Lelouch would be able to do was kick (which wouldn't help him much even if his kicks did hurt Suzaku; Lelouch was stuck to the damn wall, after all). All Lelouch really had as defensive weaponry was his sharp tongue and words could only push the prince so far (at any rate, Suzaku had this nasty habit of being a hard-headed idiot and probably wouldn't bother listening to Lelouch to begin with; Suzaku certainly hadn't listened at all so far).

"I think of you in a _lot_ of ways." Suzaku continued and he stepped back a moment to take in the view of his captive.

Suzaku chuckled and Lelouch didn't miss the way those lusty, green eyes roamed his figure.

"…_a lot_ of ways I probably shouldn't." Suzaku admitted and he shrugged at some internal musings he was having before smiling. "Funny how things work out, hunh?"

Suzaku retook the step he had taken back and he locked gazes with Lelouch before allowing his smile to turn ugly. After a moment of nothing but eerie staring, Suzaku's gaze dropped to the ends of Lelouch's gown and he made a small noise of interest. A hand rose and then proceeded to edge near the gown's ends.

"Suzaku." Lelouch warned and he glared down heatedly at the brunet as he unconsciously shifted his legs away from Suzaku's approaching hand. "I've had it with your games. _What do you want from me_?"

Suzaku's eyebrow rose at the demanding question, but he kept his eyes focused on the task at hand. His hand took the edge of the gown and lifted it.

"I know you can't be _this_ naïve, Lelouch." Suzaku stated and he shook his head slightly. "I thought it was obvious, hun~?"

Lelouch jumped when Suzaku's free hand touched his bare stomach.

"_Stop touching me!_" Lelouch demanded and he squirmed somewhat at Suzaku's probing hands. "And _don't_ call me that!

Suzaku's eyes narrowed at that and he abandoned the expanse of skin he was skimming to reach up and hastily grab Lelouch's chin.

"What makes you think I'm giving you a choice in this?" Suzaku asked and his thumb rubbed against Lelouch's bottom lip. "And I'll call you whatever I feel like calling you, _baby_."

A spark of rebellion flared up within Lelouch's eyes and he scowled.

'_You can't control me, Suzaku. I'm __**not**__ going to let you break me!'_

Though it still remained true that Lelouch could really do nothing to save himself, he could still fight with what little he had. Suzaku was a fool if he believed Lelouch would submit so easily and the prince proved this by biting the thumb at his lips.

"Ow! You-!"

Suzaku snatched his hand back only to see the indentions of the teeth marks Lelouch had given him circling his thumb. The brunet bared his own teeth before sending a stinging slap against Lelouch's cheek. The slap didn't faze Lelouch, however. In fact, the dark-haired teen started laughing.

"Ahaha! What makes you think I'm not going to fight back?" Lelouch asked between his insane giggles and a smirk was playing across his lips. "You can't be _that_ naïve, _Suzu_."

Suzaku exhaled loudly and he sounded oh so very annoyed. He stuck a hand into one of the pockets of his lab coat and extracted his trusty scalpel. He twirled it between his fingers for a moment while keeping his narrowed gazed leveled upon Lelouch.

"This would be funny if it weren't so sad…" the brunet mumbled faintly and then his fingers stilled.

The movement was almost too quick for Lelouch's eyes to catch (all he really saw was a blur), but the slight echo of metal slicing through air was all too audible and, at first, there was nothing. There was just the briefest moment of nothing…but when the moment passed, Lelouch winced at a horrible stinging sensation that was blooming across his chest. He glanced down to see slow streaks of bright, bright red painting themselves in the same line the stinging was originating from. Another glance (this time, at Suzaku) revealed an amused grin and a newly bloodied scalpel.

"_Don't_ make me hurt you." Suzaku stated with an edge to his words. "Not any more than I've already planned, too. I was going to go easy on you, but…heh…you just _love_ making things difficult for me, don't you?"

Suzaku shook his head and his expression turned rather melancholic.

"…sometimes I think you enjoy fighting with me more than anything else." he continued. "Is it sick that I feel the same?"

"I've never once enjoyed fighting with you, Suzaku." Lelouch responded and it was true (the two boys' habit of harmless banter notwithstanding). "…even if it is about the only communication we have anymore."

The two _had_ been fighting a lot recently.

Lelouch hated that Suzaku was off 'playing' with the military so much and had expressed his concerns to the brunet on more than one occasion. Suzaku's response was always something along the lines of: "I do it to protect people, especially now that I have you and Nunnally back." That response usually had a mention of Zero in it somewhere and with Lelouch's 'support' of said terrorist, it was easy to imagine where the conversation would go afterwards. The two always made up in the end, but the stinging reminder that both were rather unsatisfied with each other remained. (Lelouch never meant to bicker with Suzaku so much, but his friend's stubbornness over remaining in the military—a place where no one would care if a lowly Honorary Britannian lived or died—sparked a kind of jealousy within Lelouch. The way Suzaku talked about the military, it was as if the brunet was _supposed_ to be there; _as if it were his_ _home_.)

Suzaku hummed.

"We're an odd couple, aren't we?" he asked.

Lelouch didn't answer, but he doubted Suzaku was expecting to receive one.

Suzaku took a moment and sighed. His fingers started to move again and the bloodied scalpel still in his hands twirled around and around his fingers dangerously.

"You know, it's funny." the brunet said after a moment of silence. "I've always had a soft spot for you, but you always got on my nerves at the same time. Honestly, there are days I want to wrap my hands around your neck _and break it_."

Suzaku leaned closer and he brought his hands up to Lelouch's face. One (the one wielding the scalpel) slid up to gently thread it's fingers through Lelouch's dark locks while Suzaku's remaining hand cupped Lelouch's neck (as if to strangle the prince).

"How can I hate someone _so_ much that I want to _kill_"

Suzaku squeezed Lelouch's neck and hair slightly as his voice took on a dangerous tone of repressed anger. Lelouch made a little noise of protest and gasped.

"them."

As suddenly as the anger had appeared, it dissipated along with the neck squeezing. Lelouch panted at the release. The squeezing had restricted the air flow to his lungs enough to cause a slight panic.

"…but love them _so_ much that I couldn't live without them here with me?" Suzaku continued and his voice adopted a pleading tone as his hands slid around to caress Lelouch's cheeks briefly (he was even careful enough to keep the scalpel from slicing at any skin). "Crazy, right…"

Suzaku seemed terribly conflicted. One minute, he was acting like a model psycho murderer and, the next, he was two or three steps away from practically cuddling Lelouch. These mood/personality swings were bothering Lelouch greatly. It made about as much sense as…well, take that dream Lelouch had had, for instance. He-

…right…that was a dream. That had all been a dream. The Suzaku he was being trapped by had sliced him open and left him to die (and Lelouch most certainly _should_ have died; it would make sense if it had really happened).

'…_not even Suzaku would go __**this**__ far. Not even if he lost his mind. He's such a softie and he simply cannot stand the thought of __**not**__ being the suicidal knight that he is. Something isn't right here. …this is another dream, isn't it?_'

Lelouch was fully aware that his surgical adventure with Suzaku had been pure fantasy, but for some reason, that knowledge had not registered with him until just now. Lelouch remembered hearing things about dreams not making any sense after you woke up from them, but why he would forget such an obvious fact after being thrown back into the dream bothered him. It made him feel like he wasn't in control of his own mind and he _hated _not being in control of things (especially things concerning his own body and mind).

'_I suppose this is what you would call dream logic. It makes perfect sense while the dream is happening, but after it ends, you can't understand anything about it._'

Regardless, weren't you supposed to be _safe_ in your dreams? None of it was real so it made sense that dreaming of being tortured or something of the like would not be felt. Why could he feel pain?

"You're a contradiction to me, Lelouch." Suzaku continued, sliding a hand up to play with Lelouch's hair again. "You're really beautiful, you know? Both inside and out…but you let that…_that_ _thing_ come inside of you. Why did you let it in you, Lelouch? Why did you let it take you over?"

'_Thing?_' Lelouch wondered as a bewildered expression covered his features. '_What is he talking about?_'

Suzaku's eyes widened as he gripped the sides of Lelouch's head tightly and his voice turned hysterical.

"_Why did you take __**everything**__ away?_" he screeched, his hands shaking due to the anger that was coursing through him. "_Why did you_-"

Suzaku pulled the hand still clutching the scalpel away and swiftly brought the dangerously sharp instrument to the forefront of Lelouch's neck.

"_Why did you make me want to kill you?_" the deranged amateur surgeon demanded, angry tears threatening to spill from his eyes. "You could have stopped _anytime_ you wanted! You could have sparred so many lives, _but you didn't_ and now _look_!"

Suzaku pulled the scalpel away from Lelouch's neck (much to Lelouch's relief) to sweep his arm out behind him and gestured to all of the dead bodies littering the room.

"_Just look at all of them, Lelouch._" Suzaku said and his voice was barely a whisper yet it still contained that venomous rage. "Because you let him in, innocent people are all dead because of you…even Shirley."

'_Because…of me?_'

"What are you playing at?" Lelouch demanded and his chains rattled as he pulled against them. "I _never_ killed _any_ of these people! I don't even know who they are and I would _never_ hurt Shirley! And who the _hell_ are you talking about? Let _who_ in?"

"You would _never_?" Suzaku asked with a curious tint to his voice. "Not never _ever_? Hmph. _Don't lie to me, Lelouch_. I'm _not_ going to fall for any of them anymore. _This is all your fault_. _All of it_!"

Suzaku brandished the scalpel threateningly and it glinted in the light with a horribly malicious shine.

"It was my mistake for trusting in you." Suzaku continued and he began to walk backwards, away from Lelouch. "I let myself…_love_ you…and that was wrong. _I_ was wrong for ever coming into contact with you."

Lelouch winced at that. Even though he knew (now) that he was dreaming, hearing this fake Suzaku say such things still hurt. Lelouch supposed that it must all be a part of his own insecurities that he kept buried and were coming out due to all the recent stress he had been under.

The dead bodies of ones he both knew and didn't knew probably represented his fear of watching death. He had seen his mother die when he was just a child and it left a jagged, mental scar that refused to leave. Though Lelouch admitted that he would be far more upset over the deaths of his friends and certain family members (Nunnally and Euphemia; the rest, not so much), in the back of his mind, the deaths of those he had not meant to kill (however indirect they were) still plagued him.

Lelouch wasn't going to bother decoding the symbolism for the rest of the dream, but as for Suzaku…well, that one was a bit obvious. Lelouch was afraid of Suzaku's rejection (in one form or another) and that fear had chosen to manifest itself in a way that (while rather extreme) made sense. Lelouch had no way of knowing how Suzaku would react should the brunet discover Zero's true identity. There were multiple possibilities along with multiple outcomes and, if he was being honest with himself, Lelouch didn't want to think about all of them.

A homicidal surgery had definitely not being one of the possibilities Lelouch had considered, though.

Suzaku turned then and stopped in front of Shirley's hanging corpse. The brunet lifted a hand to gently pet her blood-soaked hair and hummed to himself.

Shirley's only reaction was stiffly swaying at the slight touch.

"She didn't deserve this, you know." Suzaku stated and his hand was drifting down her cheek in a kind caress. "She had dreams and people she loved. She liked you the most, you know. It's really…sad…in more ways than one."

Suzaku's fingers trailed down her neck and across her shoulder blade. They took a detour here and continued to travel until they reached her forearm.

And Suzaku paused for a moment to stare at her arm, as if in deep thought.

"…oh well." he said with a long, suffering sigh.

Lelouch could only watch in silent horror as Suzaku gripped Shirley's arm tightly and then twisted it around at a painful angle (which caused it to rip apart by the stitches keeping it held together).

"Shit happens. _Doesn't it_." Suzaku stated and he carelessly tossed the severed arm in Lelouch's direction.

Shirley's arm collided with the wall (merely inches from hitting Lelouch) with a sickening crunch.

It bounced to the floor then and it rolled and rolled until its curled, frozen fingers caught the rusty leg of a metallic table filled with various blood-stained surgical tools.

And though Lelouch was still horrified, he was just as equally enraged by Shirley's treatment. Without even bothering to consider the consequences of speaking out, Lelouch screamed at Suzaku.

"_You sick bastard_! _What did she __**ever**__ do to __you_?" Lelouch screeched, his chains rattling. "You say Shirley never deserved it? _Then_ _**why**__ did you do this to her_? _What the hell is wrong with you, Suzaku?_"

A harsh slap to the face was the only answer Lelouch received and Suzaku actually had the nerve to _laugh_ to his face. (When had the brunet even moved?)

"Oh, silly little _Lulu_." Suzaku chided and he pinched at Lelouch's cheeks while his demeanor turned scarily perky. "You are just _so cute_ when you're trying to act all big and tough. So, _so_ cute. I could just _eat. You. Up_. That sounds fun, doesn't it?"

"_Stop taunting me!_" Lelouch yelled.

He was so thoroughly fed up with Suzaku's behavior that he wanted to bang his own head against the wall.

'_I don't care if it __**is**__ Suzaku. He __**cannot**__ get away with something like this! He's __**really**__ pissing me off!_'

Suzaku's eyebrows rose at him and he let go of Lelouch's cheeks as if the soft expanse of skin had suddenly scalded his fingers.

"…you don't have to yell." Suzaku said and he had the nerve to adopt a kicked-puppy sort of look and tone of voice as he retreated slightly. "You're just so cute is all. I couldn't help myself."

Lelouch's eyes narrowed dangerously and, for just a moment, he wished he had the muscles to beat the shit out of this apparition in front of him.

"_Stop these games_." he seethed. "Either tell me what you want and _do it already_ or _let me go_. I'm getting _really_ fucking _sick_ of all this."

As soon as the words left Lelouch's mouth, Suzaku burst into hysterical laughter.

"L-Let you go?" Suzaku repeated and his giggles were at an insane level. "Aha! Oh, that's a good one, Lelouch! You have a sense of humor after all!"

Lelouch just continued to glare at Suzaku as this boiling anger inside of him continued to grow and grow until Lelouch felt like his chest was going to explode.

Suzaku continued to giggle hysterically for a few more minutes while Lelouch seethed at him in silence. Once his laughter had died down, Suzaku wiped a few stray tears from his eyes and faced Lelouch once more.

"Aha…ahhh…riiiight. You're being serious." Suzaku stated rather than asked and all trace of amusement had now completely vanished. "But that's you. Always the serious one. Hell, back when we were kids, I had to tickle you just to get you to finally laugh for the first time. You're such a _kill-joy_."

"Don't bring up _meaningless_ past memories." Lelouch said coldly. "They obviously don't mean a damn thing to you or else _none_ of this would be happening right now!"

"I could say the _exact_ same thing to _you_, Lulu." Suzaku said and he was back to twirling his scalpel around his fingers. "But I'm getting _really_ bored with all this talking. I would much rather do something a lot more…_fun_, if you can catch my meaning."

"And just _what_ would that be?" Lelouch asked, scowling. "Let me take a guess: _more murder?_"

Suzaku just chuckled at him.

"Don't spoil the ending, Lelouch~." Suzaku answered with a tsk tsk. "We haven't even reached the climax yet and there you go giving away the ending~!"

Lelouch stiffened despite himself and swallowed another lump that had formed within his throat.

So this Suzaku truly did intend to end this with another death: Lelouch's. But what was that about a climax?

"I do hope you realize how _little_ sense you make, _traitor_." Lelouch responded and he was aware even then that he was talking more to his own mind than to this Suzaku imposter. "There's such a thing as 'clarity' and 'comprehension'. _Speak their fucking language._"

Suzaku sent the angered teen a shrug and, with one last twirl of his bloodied scalpel, pocketed the bloodied piece of silver in favor of using just his hands (for the time being, at any rate).

"Then allow me to make myself just a bit more clear, pudding pop~." Suzaku answered with a growing smile. "To get to the end of all this, we first have to participate in a few…_exercises_ that I think will make you a just a _little_ less of a kill-joy~."

Lelouch had no chance to throw another insult or give another sarcastic remark. Suzaku never gave him the chance to.

For everything the captive prince tried to say was lost to countless noises he just couldn't hide nor smother.

And this only made the creepy smile on Suzaku's face stretch even wider.

Lelouch fidgeted and would have kicked the brunet (in a place bound to cause pain), but Suzaku was being unbelievably persistent in his advances and it made Lelouch's knees weak.

"S-Suzaku, get your han-_stop it_! What do you think you're-ngh! I said _no_, Suza-ah-ku!"

Suzaku chuckled at this display and watched in sick fascination as Lelouch unsuccessfully tried to escape his advances.

"Think of it liiiike… a physical examination." Suzaku explained, as if talking about the weather. "I'm the doctor and you're the patient. As the doctor, I'm prescribing you a _much_ needed check-up."

"Suzaku, _stop_!"

"Why stop?" Suzaku asked and the relentless movements of his hands made agreed the question. "I did say you would enjoy some parts of this~."

Suzaku leant forward to smother Lelouch's mouth with his own (effectively swallowing the prince's protests and amusing gasps) and he tangled his wandering hand into Lelouch's hair (less out of passion and more out of a desire to stay in control of Lelouch's movements). Suzaku didn't pull back until he had Lelouch practically choking for air.

Lelouch wasted no time in sucking in the air Suzaku had cut off from him once his mouth was free. The dark-haired teen's cheeks were beginning to flare up in an embarrassed sort of horror as his body was attempting to turn traitor on him.

And he was starting to _panic_.

_I don't want this! I don't want this! __**I don't want this!**_, Lelouch repeated again and again. _Why won't I just wake up? __**Wake up, Lelouch!**_

Lelouch didn't really have 'wet dreams'. He knew enough about them to be able to the difference between a regular dream and a 'wet' one, but the reason he never really had them was mostly due to his nightmares. Lelouch did not have pleasant dreams, like most people did. When Lelouch dreamed, he dreamed of flowing red rivers shaped like staircases. At the bottom, there was _always_ a ghastly lake filled with rotting corpses and thick, almost black scarlet. He dreamed of the dead rising from out that lake only to climb the endless staircase in an attempt to reach him. Nunnally was always so frightened. She was always stuck at the bottom and nearest to the red lake. She was scared because she couldn't see and her legs wouldn't work and she couldn't find her mother or her brother…

Then, their mother would appear amidst the stink of decay and she was always so beautiful despite being saturated with the lake's slimy water. She would reach Nunnally first (because poor Nunnally was _always_ at the bottom) and she would pick Lelouch's little sister up, tell Nunnally to wave good-bye to Lelouch, and then their mother would _toss Nunnally into the lake._

As Lelouch screamed out for Nunnally, their mother would dissolve and vanish (like some kind of melting ghost). Lelouch would stumble down the stairs in a _desperate_ scramble to save his dearest sibling's life.

A hand (his mother's) would always shoot out of the goopy substance and grab Lelouch's leg the moment the prince reached the final step. The next thing Lelouch knew, he was dragged into the lake and held under until his lungs were about to burst.

Lelouch sometimes wondered if he stopped breathing when this part of the dream occurred. Honestly, he was surprised he had not had a heart attack from it yet. But moving on, the point was that Lelouch didn't have wet dreams.

And this was certainly _not_ how he pictured any he might have.

Suzaku's hands slid up and over Lelouch's length to travel up his sides and though it was a relief to Lelouch that Suzaku had left that area alone, he was nervous about what Suzaku intended to do next.

Those hands snaked their way over Lelouch's chest and their destination was barely an inch away when they suddenly stilled and Suzaku gazed thoughtfully at what little clothing Lelouch wore.

Without a single word, Suzaku stuck his scalpel up into the tear he had made in the gown earlier and slashed at the thin fabric, causing the tear to widen and allow an ample amount of Lelouch's chest to show.

…_just play pretend this one time, _Lelouch told himself and he tried to force his mind to move far, far away from his current situation. _Suzaku isn't trying to do anything to me. He isn't here at all. …I'm completely alone and everything is fine. It's just a dream, after all. It can't hurt me. I can't feel anything._

Lelouch wasn't one for this sort of thing, but just this once, he would pretend. He would pretend that nothing was happening. Lelouch wasn't even dreaming of Suzaku. He was dreaming of _nothing_. Just an abyss of _nothing_. The teeth sinking into his neck were just figments of his imagination and it certainly didn't hurt.

BANG.

A crack of gunfire rang throughout the room and crumbling noises could be heard as rotten pieces of ceiling fell to the dirty floor. The gunfire's crack was loud and caused both Lelouch and Suzaku to wince. Suzaku's hands had stilled at their position near Lelouch's backside. It was an odd sensation to have at such an inappropriate time, so Lelouch thought idly.

Click.

"My next bullet is making its home in your skull, Kururugi." a deep, almost baritone voice announced with eerie familiarity. "Unless you kindly release him immediately. I can assure you, I _don't_ miss."

With his tongue still poised at Lelouch's chest, Suzaku grinned in a strange sense of self-satisfaction, almost as if he had _wanted_ to be caught by the dark apparition behind him.

"You and your dramatic entrances." Suzaku mumbled and he chose only to sigh as the newcomer pushed the barrel of their gun into the back of his head. "Always a pleasure, Zero~"

Lelouch could say with utmost certainty that he had never been more happy to see a figment of his imagination in his entire life.

-x-x-x-x-

Serena: Here. Have a cliffhanger-ish scene. That's all you get for now. I'm not even going to try and say when I'll update again, but I will update…sometime. Just wanted to get _something_ written for Halloween. Shame I couldn't get my other Halloween ideas finished, though. I had the most amusing one involving a pirate Suzaku. Ah well~ If anyone is even still following this, I'll see you next chapter~!


	4. Part 4

Serena: Here's the next part. Not the last, but, so you all know, **there are thirteen segments in all.** You know, how I've been writing each "section" with 01, 02, and so on? Yeah. The last three will be the end. Funnily enough, I've already written number thirteen…

I would like to thank the following people for reviewing: HisaAngel, lover-of-light, Food, TotalAmuto, XtremelyRandomNinja, PreseaMoon, CottonCandyHaze, and Altair718!

Warnings: AU-ish. SuzaLulu and ZeroLulu. Uhh…stuff.

Summary: In a twisted sort of way, a nightmare can be a warning of events to come. / "You're exhausted and covered in blood."

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.

-x-x-x-x-

**09: Savior**

Despite the obvious danger that Zero's gun posed, Suzaku didn't seem to be worried at all. In fact, the deranged little surgeon seemed rather upbeat and cheerful about how the situation was progressing (preferring to smile in a mock show of pleasant surprise rather than grimace at the obvious discomfort the gun's nozzle was causing his skull).

Suzaku chuckled.

"I was beginning to think that you would never show." he commented and he sounded overly pleased at the terrorist's arrival. "Although, now is a _really_ bad time. So, if you could just come back la - ow! That kinda hurts, you know. Do you _want_ to tear a hole in my skull~?"

"I would _love _to do more than place another hole in your head, but I would prefer not to use this in front of _him_." Zero replied. His tone of voice sounded angered and he nodded his head in Lelouch's direction. "Besides, now was the perfect time to appear. In case you have forgotten, Lelouch is _mine_. _Not _yours. He was _never_ yours, Kururugi."

The gun clicked as Zero's grip shifted. His finger shook over the trigger as if he were trying to hold himself back.

"The fact that you had the _audacity_ to try and change that _sickens_ me."

Upon hearing this, Suzaku's amused smile turned into a hateful scowl.

"_It's all your fault_!" the brunet accused. His emerald orbs were filled with a hate the likes of which Lelouch had never seen in him. "_If you didn't exist, all those people would still be alive!_"

Suzaku's eyes took on a misty appearance as all that raw hate suddenly drained from his face only to be replaced with melancholy.

"…and Lelouch wouldn't be-"

"I will take the responsibility for those deaths." Zero interrupted. His head turned momentarily towards a partially decayed body huddled against the wall. The body's skin was iced over and a multitude of deep cracks were embedded into its skin. Its eyes were stark white and its limbs were perpetually frozen in scrunched up positions.

Zero sighed. He sounded regretful, but otherwise seemed to be emotionally detached and guiltless about it all.

"But as for Lelouch's situation," he continued and his voice resumed its cold, angered tone. "that is _your_ fault. I will _not_ take responsibility for _your_ screw ups. I will, however, _take Lelouch away from you_."

Lelouch could only stare at them in wonder as he tried in vain to piece together what was going on. He understood what Suzaku had meant by "all those people" (seeing as Lelouch had killed quite a lot of innocent people at Narita due to a miscalculation), but the part Zero had mentioned about Lelouch's own "situation" was unclear to him. What could Zero have meant by that?

"If you have time for regrets, then you have time for action." Zero continued. "If you want to change Lelouch's situation so badly, then do something _useful_! Don't wallow around in your own depressive little hole and expect things to _magically_ get better!"

"I _can't_!" Suzaku shouted in response. His brows were furrowed and his eyes were ablaze with that terrible spark of hate yet again. "No matter _what_ I do, _you're always_ loitering around in Lelouch's shadow!"

Zero hmphed in amusement.

"Do I detect jealousy?" Zero taunted and Lelouch could tell that the masked man was enjoying this argument a little too much. "Are you jealous because I can give him what you can't? Because you aren't willing enough to try working with him? _Ha!_ Poor little knight. You're only throwing a childish little tantrum because you didn't get what you wanted. If you want Lelouch, you have to accept that _I'm_ part of the package."

"_Shut up, you son of a bitch!_" Suzaku shrieked. His attention was completely drawn to Zero now. He had even turned his back to Lelouch.

"Why?" Zero continued and he chuckled. "Does the truth bother you so much? You _want_ him to be powerless. So you can, how they say, be the knight in shining armor?"

Lelouch saw a glint of silver as Suzaku suddenly brandished his scalpel.

"_Go to He-_"

Lelouch wasn't about to travel down this road, however.

"Both of you _stop!_"

The two bickering enemies paused at Lelouch's shout and they turned their attention back onto him. Lelouch noticed that Suzaku's grip on the scalpel softened somewhat and though Zero refused to lower his weapon, the finger he had kept hovering over the trigger relaxed.

Lelouch frowned.

"I don't know what the hell is going on." he admitted with a shake of his head. "This dream is so bizarre, but both of you just…shut up, alright? You're giving me a headache."

Zero inclined his head downward apologetically.

"My apologies, Your Highness." the masked enigma stated and he really did sound apologetic. "I got carried away."

Well…what an odd sight _that_ was to see and that was so weird to hear, as well. That was just _really_ weird to hear. Lelouch must have come down with a virus of some kind. How else could he explain such a bizarre dream?

"It's…fine." Lelouch managed to say in response.

Zero chuckled.

Suzaku scowled.

"This is what I'm talking about." he muttered to himself before shouting. "You're too close to him!"

If Zero's mask could of had an eyebrow to raise, it would have risen rather quickly.

"Ah. I knew it." Zero stated with a small tsk. "_Jealousy_. You are quite predictable, little knight."

"_Shut. Up_!" Suzaku demanded and his grip tightened around his scalpel. "Everything…_everything_ is because of _you_! Lelouch is never going to be himself again so long as _you_ exist in him!"

Suzaku spun around on his heel and the glare he held made Lelouch unconsciously try to shift away.

"That's why I have to"

Suzaku's arm rose and that scalpel glinted in the light dangerously.

"_cut you out of hi_ -"

A loud crack of gunfire resounded throughout the room before Suzaku could finish his sentence (and simultaneous threatening movements towards Lelouch). Splatters of warm liquid sprayed against Lelouch's face and he could feel the thicker of the droplets beginning to trickle their way down his neck.

It happened so suddenly that Lelouch didn't even have the time to shut his eyes before Zero's gun went off and Suzaku slide to the floor to join the carcasses of his past murders.

**10: Escape**

Lelouch found himself speechless as the shackles chained to his wrists were removed rather easily. The teen's eyes were trained upon the fresh corpse below him and he watched in morbid fascination as trickles of warm blood poured out of the wound in Suzaku's skull. The droplets were slowly beginning to form a small, scarlet puddle below his brown locks and Lelouch figured it would soon crawl over to his feet, if he stayed still long enough.

A sudden, melancholic expression shrouded Lelouch's face and he felt hot liquid prickling at his eyes. He knew he was only dreaming - at least, he _hoped_ he was - , but Suzaku was his friend. Watching this dream version of Suzaku (even a monster of one) die like this was only serving to tug at Lelouch's heartstrings. He felt somewhat silly acting this way, but he couldn't help himself. The feelings and tears were just appearing of their own accord and Lelouch apparently had no say in the matter.

Lelouch's attention on Suzaku wavered when he heard Zero sigh wearily.

"Not to start an argument with you," Zero began and Lelouch vaguely noted that a hand was being held out to him. "but it is best you lose that attachment to him or else you will only suffer heartache later on."

Lelouch's attention began to focus a bit more and he glanced at the offered hand before sending the masked apparition a frown.

"You and C.C. sound exactly alike." he stated. His frown deepened when Zero gave a humorless laugh. "You should both know that I cannot do that. At the end of the day, Suzaku is still my best friend. I _won't_ give him up if I don't have to."

Zero sighed at that and he sounded almost agitated at Lelouch's stubbornness.

"Be that as it may, we really need to leave." Zero responded and he continued to hold his hand out to Lelouch, his tone of voice grave. "I was able to save you once, but I may not be able to a second time."

"What danger is there if everything else here is dead?" Lelouch asked. He glanced back at the offered hand and stared at it for a moment before finally accepting the offer.

Lelouch wobbled a bit, but he grabbed hold of Zero's arm to steady himself as he stepped over his friend's corpse. His legs were being very uncooperative at the moment and absolutely refused to stop shaking. Plus, the blood made the floor slippery.

"None. Not unless you factor the dead rising into your calculations." Zero answered. He made a small noise as Lelouch nearly toppled over while stepping over the brunet's corpse. So, he placed a hand against Lelouch's hip to help keep him steady, muttering all the while. "Honestly. He treating you like this is disgraceful. You're exhausted and covered in blood."

Lelouch ignored Zero's mutterings in favor of flickering his gaze across the decaying corpses littering the room. The notion had seemed silly earlier and it still seemed that way even now, but exactly how silly could something like that be when someone as serious as Zero said it? Lelouch wanted to believe that he was joking, but his mind was providing him with the absolute answer of: Zero was being serious.

"Mm. The dead do not always stay dead, Lelouch." Zero continued and as soon as Lelouch was steady enough, Zero began to guide him in the direction of the door. "You should know that."

Zero seemed a little anxious to leave before any of the room's occupants decided to move. He kept pushing at Lelouch's back in a vain attempt at trying to urge Lelouch to walk faster. Zero's attempts only ended in vain because Lelouch couldn't seem to walk that well. The prince wasn't sure why, but trying to leave the room was really hard. His legs were like noodles and whenever he tried to move them forward, they felt as if they were wadding in thick mud. Why was it so hard to walk?

'_Probably more dream logic._' Lelouch mused. '_I wish I would wake up already._'

Zero sighed as he abruptly paused in his movements.

"This isn't working." he muttered to himself. Lelouch sent him a curious look as he turned his head to stare questioningly at the masked apparition.

"What isn't work - _hey_!"

Without any sort of warning, Zero scooped Lelouch up into his arms (in a bridal-style fashion, no less!) and then continued his walk out of the room at a satisfyingly speedy pace. But this act only upset Lelouch because Lelouch did not like being carried around. It made him feel helpless and Lelouch was fed up with the feeling.

"Put me down!" Lelouch demanded and he weakly pushed and squirmed against Zero's chest. "I can walk just fine on my own!"

Zero hmped in amusement.

"Of course you can." he said in agreement (but Lelouch could practically hear the smirk in his voice. "And that is exactly why you were moving so slowly."

"…"

Lelouch ceased his struggles momentarily and glared as a bit of embarrassing pink dusted his cheeks (which only complimented the flecks of blood dotting his face). Zero's obvious sarcasm made Lelouch hold his tongue. It was true he had been having a hard time moving, but Zero had hardly given him the proper amount of time to -

"We neither have the time nor do I have the patience to spare for your legs to begin working normally." Zero stated, effectively interrupting Lelouch's train of thought.

Lelouch's glare morphed into an incredulous look.

"D-Did you just -?"

"Read your mind?" Zero finished for the teen. He sounded, if possible, even more amused. "Why, yes. Yes I did. I was born from _your_ thoughts, Lelouch. You and I have a connection that goes far beyond the physical veil. In short, I can read your mind all I like."

"If that's the case, then wouldn't the reverse be true?" Lelouch questioned. He felt ill at ease knowing that someone could look inside his private thoughts (dream or not). "Couldn't I read yours as well?"

"You could, if you wanted to." Zero answered with a short nod. "But my mind isn't so easy a thing to read. I know how to block intruders. You, however, do not. Try to read mine all you like, but you will fail at it."

Lelouch bristled at that. The _nerve_ this man had! Just because Zero could didn't mean he had a right to invade Lelouch's privacy like that!

Zero hummed.

"You say that as if it were a crime. But the _real_ crime would be for me to _not_ listen."

"Invading another person's privacy _is_ a crime!" Lelouch countered and he returned to struggling within Zero's hold. "_Put me down!_"

Just because Lelouch created him did not mean that it was perfectly alright for the masked man to invade his private thoughts like this! If anything, Zero should _obey_ _him_.

"I'm Zero. I make my own rules, _Master_." Zero responded in a mocking tone.

_Oh_, that god-forsaken sarcasm!

"_Stop reading my thoughts, you arrogant bast_ -!"

Zero shifted his arms in a sudden, jumpy movement and Lelouch's arms automatically flung around Zero's neck to keep from slipping out of the man's grasp.

"You made me this way so stop complaining." Zero answered. He then laughed at the embarrassed expression that crept up the prince's face.

Lelouch huffed.

-x-x-x-x-

Serena: I really did mean for this to be the final part, but I needed to stop here because the last few parts are…well, not really all that cute or cheery. Not that this was, but…well, you'll see when the next part is posted. And the next part will be the final part and that's…final. haha.


	5. Part 5

Serena: Last part is here and it's the longest part yet! Enjoy~! And okay. There's 15 segments. :I It just sort of happened that way when I was trying to write segments 11 and 12 so hng.

I would like to thank the following people for reviewing: HisaAngel, Altair718, and TotalAmuto!

Warnings: AU-ish. SuzaLulu and ZeroLulu. Extra cruel dream!Suzaku is extra cruel. :c

Summary: In a twisted sort of way, a nightmare can be a warning of events to come. / "This isn't a dream. It's a warning." Lelouch didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "That's what…he told me."

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass.

**11: Warning**

A shiver ran up Lelouch's spine as his bare legs touched the surface of the table Zero had carefully set him down upon. The chilled table was metallic and just big enough for an adult to lay flat upon. There was also yet another, smaller table set beside it (probably meant to hold various tools for…certain procedures), but it was empty. It was a little unnerving to know that he was sitting atop a surgical table (his last episode with one hadn't exactly been pleasant, after all), but at least this one was clean and restraint free. Plus (though, Lelouch couldn't be one-hundred percent certain but), he doubted that Zero would try to hurt him in the same manner as that Suzaku imposter had.

Lelouch returned somewhat from his mind's wanderings when he felt something being draped across his shoulders. He turned his head only to catch sight of Zero wordlessly slipping his cloak around Lelouch's shivering, half-naked frame.

Lelouch blinked and a barely noticeable blush crept along his cheeks at the thought. He couldn't help but glance down at his figure briefly before taking the offered clothing and wrapping it around himself. His hospital gown was in tatters and he had nothing on underneath it. He really was practically naked, wasn't he?

"Thank you." Lelouch murmured in gratitude.

Zero merely nodded his head and ran a hand through Lelouch's hair as he came to stand beside the prince.

"You need it more than I do." the masked man responded and his fingers slid down to trail around Lelouch's left eye.

He was silent for a few, deafening heartbeats and Lelouch found he could only stare up at the other man as those gloved-covered fingers slowly traced line after line around his left eye. Lelouch's reflection was being reflected within Zero's mask and Lelouch couldn't help but stare up at it. He briefly wondered if that's what everyone looked at whenever he donned the mask himself or if they simply tried to imagine the face underneath. It was certainly unsettling and now that Lelouch was on the other side, he suddenly had a better understanding for other's fear (and even hatred) of him.

Zero was anonymous to the world. He had no face, no identity, and no real connection with anything. When people saw him (when they looked up into that ominous black mask), they only saw themselves being reflected back at them (just like a mirror). Mirrors reflected only what was standing before them and some (like the mirror in this series of books he and Nunnally had read together many a time) reflected a person's innermost thoughts.

Lelouch internally hummed at that.

The Mirror of Erised, he believed it was called. It reflected back what the person standing before it wanted most in the world. Perhaps, then, Zero's mask did the reverse. Perhaps it showed whoever looked into it what they didn't want to see. A fear they had or maybe something they didn't want to admit to or maybe even a past trauma they wanted to forget. And, when people gazed up into the enigma's "face" and only saw themselves being reflected, they got angry. Not at Zero directly, but at themselves.

Lelouch made a soft, airy noise and his eye fluttered when Zero's fingers trailed away and back up to comb through his hair once more. It might have been a little strange, but the touches were sort of nice. It was a welcome contrast to all the pain and stress the prince had been enduring for days now (so maybe that's why he didn't mind the contact any). Even still, Lelouch remained unnerved by the mask staring down at him. The reflection from it was dark from both the lack of light and the dark color of the mask itself, but the longer Lelouch stared, the more details he could make out. He could see himself seated atop the table with Zero's cloak wrapped tightly around him. His shredded gown was a sight to see and the blood Lelouch was coated in only made the whole picture more disturbing.

Zero's caresses abruptly stopped.

"…we need to talk."

Lelouch blinked rapidly. He hadn't realized just how much his mind had drifted until Zero's voice startled him out of his trance.

"…about what?" Lelouch questioned while unconsciously clutching at the cloak more tightly. "Suzaku?"

Zero sighed and his hand fell away from Lelouch's hair.

"Among other things." he answered vaguely.

Lelouch raised an eyebrow.

"Like?" he prompted. "I don't suppose you could tell me why I'm unable to wake up, could you?"

Zero walked towards a closed door they had come through moments before and stood by it while seemingly peering out the little glass window the door had. Zero's arms crossed and he hummed as he stared out into the hallway.

"Actually, that's what I need to speak to you about." he answered. He turned to lean against the wall and his head turned in Lelouch's direction. "This place, this _dream_, as you call it, isn't what it appears. You are in very _real_ danger being here and you _need_ to get out before it's too late."

Lelouch's eyes narrowed and his eyebrows knit together.

"Excuse me? Heh. Other than being able to feel pain, there's nothing abnormal about this dream."

"Nothing abnormal, you say?" Zero repeated with a chuckle. "So all that back there and everything that has been happening to you is _normal_?"

Lelouch's cheeks flushed.

"I…for me, I suppose." he clarified. He turned away from the apparition to stare at a closed door on the opposite wall. "My dreams are never happy. There's always something unnatural in them…always something trying to hurt me. This dream I keep having…it's not what I would have expected, but considering my track record, I think it inevitable that Suzaku show up and do the same as all the others."

Lelouch's mood dropped to a depressing level.

"I'm used to them. They're 'normal' to me. I'm tired of waking up crying, but there's nothing I can do to make the dreams go away." he continued and his grip on Zero's cloak was desperate by this point. "They only get _worse_ the older I get."

Lelouch turned back to gaze at Zero with tears he didn't know he had glistening in his eyes.

"Do you know what it's like to be _afraid_ of closing your eyes?" Lelouch asked, but he didn't wait for an answer. "It _hurts_. It hurts knowing that I can't tell anyone about them and that I'm…alone. I've never even told Suzaku about them even though he knows I'm having nightmares. Nunnally, too."

Zero pushed away from the wall and strode over to stand by Lelouch's side. He placed a hand under Lelouch's chin and tilted the teen's head up slightly.

"Lelouch, _I know_." Zero stated and his other hand came up to wipe a few stray tears away. "That's why I'm here: _to help you_. I'll _make_ them go away for you, but you need to trust in me enough to let me do what I have to do to make them stop. I know you well." Zero hmped in amusement as his tear-stained hand threaded its fingers through Lelouch's hair. "I've been inside your head for a _long_ time, after all. We're practically the same age."

Lelouch let out a quiet laugh at that.

"I'm still older by a few years." Lelouch pointed out with a small smile. "I was four when I named you."

Zero shook his head and his hands slid away from Lelouch.

"Yes. As I recall, you kept calling me 'Zeeo' because, for some reason, you couldn't fit the 'r' into your alphabet."

Lelouch scoffed, but didn't say anything. He merely readjusted the cloak (to hide his embarrassed blush) and looked away (and felt completely justified in doing so).

Zero chuckled.

"You know, for a twisted individual out for revenge who breaks the law, takes advantage of the strong, rich, and stupid, skips lessons, and generally makes a mockery of his own racist society…you're awfully _cute_~."

Lelouch bristled and the cloak's high collar was shoved up even further. If there was one thing he disliked to be called, it was _cute_. Lelouch _wasn't_ cute so _no one_ should even call him as such. Not even someone from his own mind (if anything, that made it even _worse_).

"I _only_ speak the truth to you, Your Highness, and you are, without a doubt, _adorable_~"

Lelouch yanked the cloak down and sent the fiercest glare he could muster Zero's way (his blush notwithstanding).

"_**Stop**__ reading my mind._ _That's an __**order**__._"

Zero took a step back (keeping one foot behind the other) and brought a hand to his chest to cover his heart.

"I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request, my Lord." he responded before gracefully bowing at the waist. "You_ are _cute_._ I call them how I see them, Your Highness~."

Lelouch's eye twitched and his lips pursed.

"…you infuriate me."

Zero bent back upward and reached over to ruffle Lelouch's hair affectionately (almost in a brotherly sort of way).

"It's not my fault you're loveable. Blame genetics."

Lelouch swatted at the hand atop his head in a huff.

"Just get back on the subject!" the prince demanded and he was trying to will his flushed cheeks to return to their normal color. "And stop teasing me. Besides, this is just a dream. Dreams can't -" Lelouch hesitated a moment before finishing his sentence. "…I can't die from a dream. It's not real."

"Not true. Especially not in this case." Zero countered. He crossed his arms again and resumed the serious air he had had about him when the subject was first brought up. "This _isn't_ an ordinary dream, Lelouch. In fact, even though this _is_ all in your head, this isn't a dream at all. It's a very _real_ warning."

Lelouch's eyebrows knit together at that.

"A…warning?" he repeated hesitantly. What could Zero possibly mean by that? A dream was a dream. In any case, just what was he being "warned" about? Nothing about this dream had proved too logical (well, not directly; dream logic apparently didn't see any harm in confusing its subjects).

"Mhm. From Geass." Zero clarified. Lelouch's eyes widened a fraction. _Geass?_ _**Hunh?**_ "To be more specific, the World of C. It's trying to warn you about something in your future in order to help you survive."

The World of _what_?

"My _future_?" Lelouch questioned. He blinked and then his eyes narrowed. He tried to rack his brain for any remembrance he had of this place Zero spoke of, but he couldn't ever remember a time in which he had heard it. "That doesn't – _why_ would Geass even do that?"

"Because you possess a connection with the World of C and it wants you to live." Zero answered, but then he sighed. "It was only meant to warn you of future events. Unfortunately, you were already having abnormal nightmares to begin with. The World of C always uses a set amount of its power to aid Geass users in their dreams, but with you, it was too much and the vision it was trying to show you became _toxic_ and ugly. That's why everything is decayed and also why you can feel so much pain here. If you die here…you die for real."

Lelouch grew uneasy the more Zero spoke. Honestly, he wasn't sure if he should believe any of this nonsense or not (because it _was_ just a dream), but…well, strange things had been happening ever since he met C.C. (in fact, the idea of a power that could manipulate others into doing his bidding still seemed so very surreal to him). It wasn't as if C.C. _ever_ explained anything to him, either. So, he supposed it wasn't impossible, but -

Lelouch held up a hand.

"I'll humor you, for now." he stated before letting his hand drop. "So, I can actually _die_ here? How am I supposed to survive when I can't even make this dream stop? Even if I wake up, I'll eventually fall asleep again. The last time that happened, I ended up here. It would just happen again."

Zero turned his head to glance at the door briefly.

"That's why I'm here." he said and he turned back to Lelouch. "I'm going to take you to the exit. Normally, the dream ends once the dreamer discovers the dream's meaning, but because yours has gone all to Hell, we have to find the exit and get you out before -"

Zero abruptly cut of his sentence and he whirled around to face the door. His posture turned defensive and Lelouch heard the telltale click of a gun being readied for use.

"Lelouch, _get out_!" Zero ordered in a tone that left no room for discussion. Lelouch blinked in confusion at the masked man's actions. He slid off the table and held a hand out towards Zero's shoulder as he felt his own anxiety steadily grow.

"Wha -"

There was a sudden crash in the hallway and the little window nestled in the door shattered. Lelouch was startled and withdrew his hand back into the safety of the cloak. The dimmed lights overhead flickered with a light buzzing sound as a loud, ominous creaking noise began to echo throughout the room. Lelouch decided to take a chance and risked a peak around Zero's shoulder only to see the door being pushed open by –

Lelouch couldn't help the startled, disbelieving gasp that spilled out of his mouth.

"Su -"

Infuriated jade irises were narrowed into deadly slits and the glasses sitting askew in front of them were cracked and even missing a few glass pieces (as well as being dirty with flecks of dark red). Those soft, russet curls were drenched in goopy scarlet jelly and small rivers of the substance were clinging to those lightly tanned cheeks greedily. Lelouch's eyes wandered up and saw a hideous black spot staining the side of the other's head (exactly where Zero had shot him earlier).

Those green orbs flickered up in the same moment that Lelouch violet ones slipped back down. The two met (one gleaming in a strange mixture of hatred and affection and the other glistening in sudden fright). Lelouch took a step back and the hand he had wrapped around the edges of Zero's cloak tightened.

Upon seeing this small retreat, the owner of the smoldering green hues allowed his lips to twist into an unrestricted smirk.

"Good to see that my little doll is still around to play with." the intruder stated. His voice was weary with ambivalence and if the situation had been different, Lelouch would have tried comforting him. "I guess I should thank you, Zero, for not taking him that far away from me."

Zero had taken it upon himself to travel all the way over to the other side of the hospital (well, it _seemed_ like one, at any rate) and had taken the most confusing and indirect route Lelouch had ever been dragged through. Despite this, Suzaku claimed their current location to be not "that far away" (as if they had merely been next door the entire time).

Suzaku took a step forward and rolled his shoulders as he did so. Zero held out an arm as he took a step back (presumably trying to shield Lelouch from the approaching danger).

"You know, that hurt. The bullet, I mean." Suzaku commented a bit too casually for Lelouch's liking. The way Suzaku talked, it was as if he were discussing the weather or some type of sport. "It was also really _rude_. You have a surprising lack of manners, Zero. You shoot me in the head – and, _ow_, thanks for the _hole_, by the way – and then you just steal my little pudding pop away. Truly an _asshole_ thing to do."

Suzaku took another step forward and something heavy was being dragged in behind him, but Suzaku's bloodied lab coat was in the way and Lelouch couldn't really see to begin with thanks to Zero shielding him.

"The only asshole amongst us is _you_, Kururugi." Zero countered and he took another step back (Lelouch following suit). The hand holding his gun lifted and the nozzle remained rooted to Suzaku's form. "If you want to take your vengeance out on someone, do it on _me_. _I'm_ the reason she's dead. If you want to get technical, _I'm_ the one who pulled the trigger. _Not_ Lelouch."

Suzaku's smirk dropped.

"This isn't just about her." Suzaku responded. Despite the limited view, Lelouch could still see a gleam of sadness shine in Suzaku's eyes. "I was lied to and _used_. I really thought he…loved me."

Lelouch had chosen not to put much thought into what Zero and Suzaku were arguing about. Lelouch figured that he would never find out and wasting time on trying to decipher this Picasso of a dream was wearing him out. The prince did, however, react at Suzaku's heartbreakingly lonely sounding statement.

"I do!" Lelouch exclaimed. Zero's head turned slightly and he made a shushing noise, but Lelouch ignored him. "I _always_ have! I thought you felt the same way and then you -" Lelouch unconsciously clutched at the scarless expanse of skin above his heart. He trailed off in an inability to finish his sentence.

Why was he getting so worked up over a dream? This wasn't even his Suzaku. It was just some bizarre manifestation of Lelouch's own fears.

_Stop it, Lelouch. None of this is real. Stop being so sensitive._ Lelouch thought, berating himself.

"Don't lie to me, Lelouch." Suzaku responded and his depressing lack of an expression bothered Lelouch even further. "Maybe you did at one time, like I did with you, but not anymore. Now, I _hate_ that I cared and I _loathe_ that on some stupid level I still have feelings for you. Maybe it's the same for you. I don't know, but I don't care. What I do know is that I want to see you _suffer_."

Lelouch physically recoiled at that and even felt hot liquid prickling at his eyes. He retreated a few steps.

'_Stop it! This isn't real!_' Lelouch tried to tell himself, but he felt his resolve violently wavering. '_Don't get so emotional over a __**stupid**__ dream._'

"_Kururugi_." Zero growled viciously in warning.

Suzaku took another step forward and ignored the warning growl thrown at him.

"I want you to pay for making me fall for you." the brunet continued. His voice kept dropping its pitch and a searing coat of malice was mixed in with the otherwise emotionless words. "I want to watch you _bleed_ and _cry_ until you _can't_ anymore. I won't be satisfied until you're _begging_ me to take your life and when that time does come, I'll only smile when you've _stopped breathing_."

'…_I…_'

Lelouch looked like he was two seconds away from breaking down. He was shivering from his attempts to hold in his emotions because he knew he was being too sensitive over this whole thing. …that's right. He was. He was being too sensitive and he needed to _stop_ because he knew that _his_ Suzaku would never say such cruel things. _His _Suzaku was too nice and strangely too innocent in nature for his own good to act like such a _monster_. _His_ Suzaku liked cute things (like cats even though they didn't really like him back) and had teased Lelouch about being "cute" on more than one occasion. _His_ Suzaku thought dressing up was kind of fun for what it was (even during that crossdressing festival Milly threw) and pushed Lelouch's buttons enough to coax some sort of reaction out of him when the prince had been forced into some horrible, degrading outfit. …his Suzaku liked to gaze at Lelouch with the goofiest expression of love (with no malice whatsoever) the prince had ever witnessed. …his Suzaku even liked to _cuddle_ and spew corny lovey dovey crap at Lelouch, for crying out loud! Suzaku was a giant _dork_! He _wasn't_ cruel like this!

'…_I…_'

But Lelouch's mind had gone blank at the harsh words and he could feel his cheeks slowly being scalded by liquid depression. His breathing had become a little louder than he thought it should have been and he didn't even realize he was moving until his back connected with the wall. Lelouch opened his mouth, but nothing more than a barely audible squeak came out.

A shot of gunfire rang out and Lelouch heard Suzaku grunt in pain. Glancing up, Lelouch saw Suzaku clutching at a soaking wet, bloody mark at his chest.

"_That's enough!_" Zero shrieked and Lelouch could see the masked apparition's shoulders shaking in fury. "How _dare_ you."

Zero fired another shot and hit Suzaku in his right shoulder. Suzaku took a step back in recoil and grimaced.

"_How __**dare**__ you!_" Zero repeated and he fired yet another shot. This time, the bullet dug itself into Suzaku's left leg and the brunet collapsed to the ground with a breathy gasp. Whatever object the imposter had been dragging along behind him clattered to the ground outside the hallway.

Zero fired yet another shot. The bullet burrowed itself into the middle of Suzaku's chest (where his heart was) and Suzaku's eyes widened before they narrowed in pain and he fell back without another word or gasp spoken.

Lelouch felt so conflicted in his emotions. He had kept his mouth open in an attempt to say _something_ (maybe he had wanted to tell Zero to stop or maybe he had wanted to say something to Suzaku), but nothing had come out. Eventually, he closed it altogether and turned his gaze to the ground. He couldn't reign in his emotions (Suzaku had broken Lelouch's metaphorical mask and left him exposed) and he couldn't stop his tears this time.

Why wouldn't he just wake up already? _Why_?

"Lelouch, we need to go."

Lelouch felt a gloved hand cup his wet cheek and he realized he never noticed Zero walk over to him. Lelouch didn't have the heart to look up at that mask, though. He was afraid of what he would see being reflected back at him. He must look a mess just standing there sniveling like a pitiful child –

"_Stop_, Lelouch." Zero gently admonished. He rubbed at a spot just beneath Lelouch's left eye. "Listen. I'm sorry for all this. I _really_ am. This…it wasn't supposed to be like this. _He_ wasn't even supposed to be here. You were only meant to see and not feel, but all that went wrong. Heh. You have no idea how much I'd like to hug you right now, but now is neither the time nor the place for it. You _must_ get out of here."

Lelouch glanced up into the mask briefly. He felt oddly comforted by Zero's presence and the attention he was receiving from the other man was nice. Lelouch wondered if he should feel bothered by that, but the thought died before it could really take shape.

"But…Suzaku -"

Zero shook his head.

"Don't think on him for another moment. I'll keep him busy while you escape. I can do that much." Zero stated and if the mask hadn't of been there, Lelouch felt that Zero would have smiled at him. "I'm sorry I can't come with you, but it will be easier this way. The exit isn't far, but this place is almost like a maze." Zero let his hand slip down to grab hold of Lelouch's chin and he gently forced the prince to look up at him. "When you leave this room, watch the signs above the hallways and on the walls. You need to make it to a hallway that has rooms two-thousand and ten to two-thousand and eighteen written on the sign."

Lelouch would have nodded, but Zero still had his chin locked in his hand.

"Okay." the teen muttered for lack of anything else to say. His tears had slowed down, at least, but Lelouch still felt as if he had been stabbed through the heart one time too many. Talking wasn't coming easy to him for the time being and his emotions were still all over the place.

Zero released his hold on Lelouch's chin and took a step away from him.

"Hopefully, our next meeting will be better." Zero added with a small, humored hmph.

Lelouch almost smiled at that. Zero didn't seem so bad. Maybe…maybe Lelouch wouldn't mind dreaming of him again (even if it _was_ a little weird). He almost said as much, but then remembered that Zero had already heard the thought and kept silent. He glanced back at the floor only to glance back up at Zero. His lips twitched a little (Lelouch thought he was trying to smile), but his eyes flickered over Zero's shoulder unintentionally (because Lelouch thought he had seen something and the eye movement just sort of happened out of reflex). Lelouch did this twice before his eyes widened and he opened his mouth to shout out a warning.

Zero caught the sudden burst of fear that sprung off Lelouch and he tried to turn around, but –

Lelouch choked on his words. Zero fell to the ground in a heap, his mask cracked and broken because of a gapping dent smashed into its side. Above him stood Suzaku. A metallic hammer that had a long wooden handle was clutched in his hands. The hammer was rusted in places and it was double-ended. One end was flat and worn with use and the other end was sharp and pointed. Suzaku had the flat end turned Zero's way and he lifted it upward (as if in preparation of using it again).

Zero appeared too disoriented to do anything so Lelouch tried to intervene.

"_Suzaku!_" Lelouch shrieked out in a panic. He took a step forward without much of a thought as to how he would even stop Suzaku if it came down to a physical fight (and it would). "Leave him alone! You only want _me_, don't you?"

Suzaku let his hammer pause midair and his gaze flickered to Lelouch. The cold, unfocused way Suzaku stared at him sent chills down Lelouch's spine. It was almost like Suzaku was gone in his head (and, all things considered, he probably was).

"Be a good dollie and go sit down somewhere until I'm done." Suzaku said and even his voice was severely off.

"Suza -"

But before Lelouch could protest any further, Suzaku swung the hammer down and a loud crack echoed throughout the room as it collided with Zero's mask yet again. Suzaku didn't stop there, either. He brought the hammer back up again and swung it down, but he wasn't aiming at Zero's mask this time.

Lelouch gagged and a scream stuck in his throat. He wanted to vomit all over again and there went his damn tears again.

Suzaku stayed busy and effectively ignored Lelouch for the time being. He brought the hammer down again and again and again _and again __**and again**_ until there was nothing but a bloody mess littering the floor. The end of the hammer was soaked with blood.

"You can't kill someone with a dead heart." Suzaku said at last and he flipped the hammer around to its pointed side. "Just like you can't kill someone who only exists in someone's head, but by the time you recover," Suzaku raised the hammer up again. "it'll be too late for Lelouch." And he swung the hammer down into the place where Zero's heart was meant to be.

**12: Wish**

Lelouch felt like a coward, but he slipped out the door next to him and shoved a piece of metal he saw laying on the ground through the door's handle to prevent it from being opened. He breathed heavily and his eyes narrowed as more tears fell. He clutched helplessly at Zero's cloak as he took a step back and a short sob broke through the silence of the hallway.

He was alone again. Alone with this _monster_ of a manifestation. Zero had been the only nice dream he had had in a long time. Lelouch had felt safe and protected with Zero around, but now that that was all gone, Lelouch didn't have anything he could hold on to so as to keep himself sane. He wanted to collapse to his knees and just cry unrestrictedly over everything (because _all_ his fears had all been forcibly ripped from his soul and were suffocating him from all sides, forcing him to stare at all of them without anything to protect himself from them). Lelouch always kept his fears hidden and locked away in the deepest part of his mind. All those metaphorical masks Lelouch wore were extra protection. To an extent, so was Zero. Lelouch kept inventing ways to hide his emotions and protect his heart from further damage, but with all those masks shattered and his fears now running loose, Lelouch couldn't gather the courage to stay strong anymore.

He was scared, plain and simple. He was a child who had been forced to grow up at too young an age and he was _scared_. He didn't want to be the aloof, arrogant person he usually was anymore. At least, not yet. Right now, he _needed_ someone (_anyone_) to just take the fear away. He really, _really_ wished his mother was still alive. It was times such as these in which he _really_ needed a strong parental figure in his life. He _needed_ a mother right now (hell, a _father_; if Lelouch's father were to suddenly appear and offer an out-of-character hug, Lelouch would take it; he was _that_ desperate).

A bang at the door alerted Lelouch that he was being stared at. The prince glanced up and through the little rectangular window in the door's side, Lelouch saw Suzaku staring out at him.

The door rattled on it hinges, but it couldn't open because of the piece of metal keeping the door closed.

"Lelouch, open the door." Suzaku commanded rather than asked. Lelouch didn't budge. "…aheh...okay. I get it. You're scared I'll hurt you again. Look. All that stuff I said, I was just angry. I mean, Zero shot me in the head and then he tried to keep me away from you. I _overreacted_. Just, come on, open the door."

Lelouch took a glance down both hallway ends (searching for signs, like Zero had told him) and when he caught sight of one with an arrow with text reading "Rooms 2010 – 2018", Lelouch took a step in that direction.

"_Lelouch!_"

But Lelouch paused at the shout of his name and, reluctantly, he turned back towards Suzaku.

"I'm leaving." Lelouch stated rather weakly. He was _so_ tired. "I'm not going to dream this dream anymore. You can't hurt me anymore, Su…_Fear_."

Suzaku (or, rather, Fear) blinked once before letting his eyes narrow into slits.

"…you can run." He began and his voice was so low and hateful that it almost didn't sound like Suzaku at all. "You can hide, but…I'll find you."

Lelouch took another step in the direction he had decided upon. The Suzaku imposter continued on.

"You hear me? I'll _find_ you. No matter how far or fast you run _or how much you hide behind whatever the fuck you find to hide____behind,_" The Suzaku imposter's voice was rising in volume with each word he spoke. Lelouch, fed up with being screamed at, bolted down the hallway just as Suzaku's voice reached screaming level."_**I'll find you, Lelouch! Do you hear me? I'LL FIND YOU NO MATTER WHERE YOU RUN TO!**_"

Lelouch heard _horrible_ banging coming from behind him, but he didn't stop for a moment. He kept on running down the hallway (fueled by pure adrenaline and fear) and only slowed down enough to make the turn around the corner to follow the sign's arrow. He kept going and going and following and turning until his lungs _burned_ and his legs _ached_, but he was so afraid he would be caught. He just kept running and running until he reached an intersection and had to stop _because there were no more signs to follow_. He breathed heavily and looked wildly in all directions in hopes of locating the next sign, but…he…just didn't see any.

"Where?"

Lelouch turned in circles and desperately threw his frightened gaze down each dark path. He still found nothing and after turning around so much, he forgot which way he came from.

"_No_. This isn't fair…"

Lelouch stopped moving and brought a hand up to tangle into his hair. He gave up on trying to stop his tears from forming and just let them fall freely. His eyes narrowed and he felt his knees going weak.

"I just want to wake up. Why is that so hard?" he asked the empty halls in a truly pitiful voice. "If I'm going to die, just _do it_ already and _stop_ –"

He fell to his knees and a sob broke out into the silence.

"I give up." he muttered in a barely intelligible voice. "_I give up!_ Just _stop_ it. _Please_."

Another sob broke the silence and Lelouch couldn't find it in himself to care over how much noise he made or even if he seemed pathetic. He was tired of being so strong all the time. That Suzaku imposter would probably find him sooner or later (especially with all the noise he was making), but…so be it. Lelouch was giving up. He couldn't take this anymore. Call him a coward or a baby, but he was still quiting. Life wasn't worth this much torment.

"Why are you crying?"

Lelouch jumped as a hand (and a relatively small one, at that) gently landed on his shoulder. Lelouch sniffled once and made some little, airy grunt in the back of throat. The hand he had twisted into his hair slipped down to floor unceremoniously and he turned his head to see who had found him. It didn't sound like Suzaku (in fact, this voice sounded too soft and feminine to belong to another man), but it _did_ sound familiar.

Lelouch truly hadn't expected the person he found standing behind him to even be there, but she was.

"…Nun...nally?"

She was significantly younger (somewhere around the age of eight or so) and her hair was a lot shorter than it should have been, but Lelouch would recognize his little sister anywhere. Though she was standing, her eyes were still closed and Lelouch wondered if she was blind her, too. It seemed odd that she would be when she clearly had use of her legs, but…dream logic.

Nunnally tilted her head and her small hands reached out to cup Lelouch's face. Her forehead was wrinkled in concern and her mouth was turned downward into a very unsatisfied frown.

"Big brother, your face is wet." she stated needlessly. Her tiny hands traveled up (feeling the tears along the way) and she frowned, if possible, even more. "I heard you crying so much. Why are you sad?"

It seemed like such a simple question (and it was), but the answer wasn't simple at all. Lelouch didn't understand why this tiny version of Nunnally was even in such a God-forsaken nightmare, but she _was_ here and she was trying to comfort him. On some level, Lelouch was touched.

"I…I can't f-find the exit." Lelouch answered in a breathy sob he hadn't meant to let out. He figured this a better answer than the more complicated one that delved into his inner mind and portrayed him as an overly-sensitive weakling. He couldn't be like this in front of Nunnally. Lelouch was supposed to be the strong one. He was the eldest. It was his duty to protect Nunnally, not the other way around.

For some reason, Nunnally's grim expression brightened considerably at that. Her frown spread into a joyful smile and she excitedly brought both hands down to grab one of Lelouch's.

"I know where it is!" the little pigtailed girl exclaimed happily. She tugged at Lelouch's hand, urging him to stand and follow her. "Don't worry, big brother! Everything's going to be okay! I can take you to the exit so you don't have to be sad anymore! I promise, I promise!"

She was practically bouncing she was so excited. Lelouch felt his lips twitch at that.

"C-calm down, Nunnally. So, wait, you know where the exit is?"

Nunnally merely nodded her head in exuberance and continued to tug at Lelouch's hand insistently.

"It's this way! Follow me, big brother! _Please?_" Nunnally begged and her bottom lip poked out in a little pout. "I promise it is. Really! You'll come, won't you?"

"O-of course I will. You're the leader." Lelouch answered and he lifted his free hand to wipe some of his tears away. His sobs had (thankfully) ceased to be an issue.

Nunnally's smile grew at his answer and she patiently waited until Lelouch had stood up before she let one of her hands entwine with his larger one and off they went down one of the pathways.

It was dark and the little light they were spared was faint and cast the walls in a ghostly glow. Lelouch felt a little guilty about having Nunnally lead the way (she _was_ blind, wasn't she? Her eyes hadn't opened, at least.), but he was mostly grateful for her presence. He felt about as emotionally stable as a newborn baby and his limbs were even weaker than a kitten's, but…he was finally going to leave this place. He was _finally_ going to wake up.

…_what about her?_ Lelouch found himself wondering. This Nunnally was a dream, too, but Lelouch felt his big brother instinct's kicking in all the same.

"Nunnally, why are you here all by yourself if you know where the exit is?" Lelouch asked curiously. It was peculiar (but, again, dream logic) and he figured it couldn't hurt to ask. "It's so dark and creepy. You don't like it here, do you?"

Nunnally turned her head up in Lelouch's direction briefly (a pleased smile still on her face) before she returned to "looking" straight ahead.

"I don't like it here, but I have to find something." she answered cheerily. Her cheerfulness was an oddity amongst the dead corridors. "It's _very_ important to me. So I have to find it and have my wish granted before I can go."

Lelouch tilted his head.

"What are you looking for that's so important?" he asked and as an afterthought, added: "Wish?"

"Uh-hunh! I'm looking for cranes!"

Lelouch's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open just the slightest bit.

"C-cranes?" he repeated. He was...startled. The real Nunnally made paper cranes in her spare time and here this tiny version of her was _searching_ for them. Just to grant a wish she had. What was her wish? A gentler world? That was the same thing his Nunnally wanted, at least.

Nunnally nodded her head and hummed an "uh-hunh!".

"I have to find a thousand of them." she elaborated. She made her and Lelouch's entwined hands swing back and forth. "If I find a thousand, my wish will come true. They're small cranes so they're a little hard to find, but I've already found thirty-three! I'm getting closer to my goal every day."

Lelouch's eyes narrowed sadly. Nunnally was so precious and innocent. She thought she could change the world in such an easy way. Her conviction was admirable and Lelouch desperately wished he could make her wish come true immediately, but people were _stupid_.

"That's…a lot of cranes." he responded weakly. "Your wish must be really special for you to go through so much trouble."

"Yup! It's the most important thing in my life! I'll be so happy when my wish comes true."

Lelouch's lips lifted into a strained half-smile.

"I hope you find all your cranes very soon then."

Nunnally giggled and then they continued on in silence. Nunnally was still swinging their arms to and fro, but Lelouch didn't mind. He let her do as she pleased. It didn't even seem like much time had passed before the swinging actually did stop as did Nunnally herself. The little girl turned her still smiling face up to Lelouch and pointed at a door with an extremely obvious "Exit" sign steadily glowing in the dark.

Lelouch decided that he hated dream logic.

"Here it is! Now you can be happy!" Nunnally exclaimed. Ah, if only his happiness could be so simple…

Lelouch smiled regardless and he kneeled down to ruffle Nunnally's hair.

"_Thank you_." Lelouch said in heartfelt gratitude. He hesitated a moment before wrapping his arms around her in a gentle embrace. "Thank you _so_ much, Nunnally. You've really saved me."

This little dream Nunnally had done more than she could ever comprehend. Even though Lelouch was still an emotional wreck, this little girl had pulled him out of an abyss that Lelouch hadn't been able to pull himself out of. He felt a little stronger now. He felt that he could keep himself together because of her. He almost felt bad about leaving her in such an awful place (but he had to keep reminding himself that nothing in the dream was real and neither was this version of Nunnally).

Nunnally giggled and returned the hug. After a moment, they pulled away from each other and Nunnally held her hands behind her back.

"I'd do anything for you, big brother." she responded sweetly. "It makes the cranes important, you know."

Lelouch had been about to stand, but he paused and turned back to Nunnally curiously.

"_What_ makes the cranes important?" he asked. Perhaps he was overthinking it, but it sounded as if Nunnally's reason for collecting the cranes lied with…him. Maybe it was just the way she worded it.

Nunnally giggled.

"_You_, of course!"

Lelouch blinked and his eyebrows rose.

"M-me?"

Nunnally nodded.

"Yup. Hehe. You wanna know my wish, big brother?" Nunnally asked, but she didn't wait for a confirmation from Lelouch. "It's for you to be happy!"

Lelouch found his mind going blank again and his eyes were (not _again_) filling with water.

"But…but I thought you wanted a kinder world." he said and he felt lost at hearing such a desire. "My happiness isn't –"

Nunnally shrugged.

"A kinder world would be wonderful, but if my big brother is sad, then what's the point in living in a gentle place? I can't be happy knowing you're not." she said matter-of-factly. Her smile was very sincere, too. "I love you, big brother. You're very important to me. That's why my wish is important and when it comes true, the world really _will_ be a better place!"

Lelouch's hands were shaking. What…what was this he was hearing? This…this selflessness coming from this kind child? His heart was aching.

"…but…_why_?"

Nunnally's head cocked to the side.

"Because you'll be smiling!" And, coming from her, it sounded like the most obvious answer in the world.

(And maybe…maybe it _was_.)

**13: Awake**

When Lelouch woke up, he felt oddly at peace. He didn't know why (all things considered), but he just did. Maybe it was due to the fact that he was, indeed, _awake_ at last. His room was the same as it had always been and it was filled with sunlight (sweet, sweet light). Or maybe Lelouch's mind had been put at ease because he just _knew_ that he would never have that dream again.

Or maybe it was the delicate hand he found entwined with his own upon regaining consciousness.

It was anyone's guess.

Lelouch smiled and it felt real for the first time in ages. He didn't know how long he had been asleep (it felt like _years_ had passed), but waking up to the sight of Nunnally slumped over the edge of the bed (asleep) with her hand clutching at his was really –

He sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

He was really happy she was there. He had passed out alone and frightened (and stayed alone and frightened for the longest time), but he had awoken to company. Nunnally didn't want him to be alone while he was "sick".

She stirred at the feel of Lelouch's fingers combing through her hair. She didn't open her eyes (but Lelouch didn't expect her to) and she didn't say anything at first (but, again, Lelouch didn't expect her to), but after a moment of Lelouch's quiet caresses, she mumbled out his name.

"Lelouch?"

Lelouch chuckled and said the only thing he could think of saying.

"Morning, Nunnally. Sleep well?"

His little sister had a surprising burst of energy and she practically leapt at Lelouch as she repeated his name in a loudly surprised, but heavily relieved sob.

"Big brother!" she cried and Lelouch could feel his night shirt being coated in tears. "I thought you'd _never_ wake up! You scared everyone! Why couldn't you just…oh, _Lelouch_!"

Lelouch didn't know what to say so he simply held her close and ran a hand through her hair in an attempt to calm her down. She sounded upset, but so relieved at the same time and yet so worried. Lelouch felt guilty, but…the dream was over now. He was awake and…everything would be okay now.

His smile grew somewhat.

Yeah. Everything would be okay because he was awake, a very _real_ Nunnally was clinging to him for dear life, and –

His door slid open and a certain someone with franticly worried jade hues came running in without so much as a warning.

"Nunnally! I heard you shout and…Le…louch?"

Lelouch froze and his eyes widened at the sight of his friend. He felt his heartbeat quicken and it took every ounce of self-restraint he had not to try fleeing.

Suzaku (completely missing Lelouch sudden tenseness) was overcome with the most heartbreakingly relieved expression Lelouch had ever seen the teen use. Suzaku's eyes were even watering.

…but that was what Lelouch's Suzaku did. He cried over the silliest of things. He was nothing but a big softie on the inside, that dork.

_This isn't a dream. This isn't that monster._ Lelouch told himself.

As Suzaku walked towards the bed, Lelouch kept repeating that mantra over and over in his head until Suzaku had seated himself on Lelouch's other side.

Lelouch's breathe quickened and he was sure that he must be shaking as well. Suzaku smiled at him and held out a hand towards Lelouch (probably about to ruffle his hair or _stab him with a_ – oh, _stop it!_), but Lelouch flinched without meaning to and Suzaku's hand wavered. The brunet's expression fell into some mix between confusion and hurt and it was the hurt part of that that made Lelouch's guilt increase.

Here Suzaku was. His Suzaku. Smiling, giving him that goofy expression of love like he always did, concerned over Lelouch (like Nunnally was), and now he was sporting that pitiful little kicked puppy look that got Lelouch every time. Suzaku was just being so…Suzaku right now. From the adorably confused glint in his eyes to the unsure twist in his lips to the tiny retreat he had made at Lelouch's flinch.

Because this was, indeed, Lelouch's Suzaku and not that monster from the prince's dream. Lelouch sighed at his own emotions and decided to throw his fear out the window. He had his two favorite and most loved people keeping him company and he wasn't about to waste the chance because some stupid dream decided to use his goofball of a knight as a mass murderer.

Lelouch quickly reached out a hand to grab Suzaku's wrist and he tugged on it rather childishly. Suzaku stared at Lelouch questioningly for a moment, but after seeing the dark tint Lelouch's cheeks had taken on, Suzaku got the message and his smile returned full force. The brunet scooted closer to Lelouch and wrapped an arm around him tightly. The other hand, he entwined with Lelouch's and though none of that had made Lelouch's blush lessen, the prince smiled in a truly happy sort of way.

Suzaku chuckled.

"Welcome back to waking world, Lu."

**14: Betrayal**

Lelouch hadn't meant for it to be like this. Suzaku wasn't supposed to find out Zero's true identity and Euphemia wasn't supposed to _die_, but that was how things had progressed. Lelouch's Geass went haywire and a careless comment registered as a command in Euphemia's head. The genocide she wrought would forever stain her innocent name and Lelouch was to blame. True. It had been an accident, but even still. Nothing about today had gone right.

Suzaku was pointing a gun at him and his expression was hard and conflicted looking in appearance. The pilot looked somewhat confused (like he didn't know what to feel) and undeniably angry.

Lelouch's guilt was starting to become a tangible thing. He could feel it in the air, choking the life out of him. He couldn't breathe and he felt his gaze becoming unfocused.

Suzaku had called him a mistake. He had said he _hated_ Lelouch.

"This isn't a dream. It's a warning." Lelouch muttered to himself and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry because, after all this time, he finally understood the meaning of that hellish dream he had had. Every piece had fallen into place and Lelouch recognized all the similarities with his dream and what was happening now. Hell, Lelouch even understood the argument Zero and imposter Suzaku had had over "her" in his dream. "That's what…he told me."

Geass. The World of C. Zero himself. All of that stuff had been warning Lelouch of this moment. A betrayal that would kill him in more ways than one.

Losing Suzaku to Britannia. The one betrayal Lelouch didn't feel his heart could stand, but he knew he could do nothing about because Suzaku wasn't going to listen to him. Lelouch had lied one time too many, but even if Lelouch had done nothing but told the truth his whole life, he doubted Suzaku would listen even then (but it might have helped Lelouch's case).

Maybe. Lelouch wasn't exactly certain about anything anymore.

**15: Waltz**

'_I think…I would have preferred you cutting out my heart rather than all this, Suzaku._'

In a way, Suzaku eventually did take Lelouch's heart, but under Lelouch's own terms and conditions. Lelouch planned it out that way. He was the one to place the glistening "scalpel" into Suzaku's hands along with the means to hide his identity as the entire world witnessed the young emperor's death.

And Lelouch managed to go through all this with a smile he never knew he had.

( ('_I'm giving you my heart, Suzaku. That's what you've wanted all this time, isn't it? It's something that only you can have…because you're the only one who is allowed to kill me._') )

But Suzaku could only cry.

In the end, he never really understood Lelouch's reasonings and the young knight felt he would have had Lelouch only lived a bit longer. The knowledge that he had only been carrying out orders (a final wish, as it were and for the betterment of the world even!) did _nothing_ to sooth the ache Suzaku felt inside. He never once felt justified in staining his hands with Lelouch's blood and he never would.

Yes. Lelouch killed Euphemia, but Suzaku had (and still did) loved them both. Killing Lelouch for the sake of avenging Euphemia only left Suzaku with nothing but a cold mask to keep him company and it wasn't as if the deed had brought Euphemia back. Nothing about either of their deaths settled well with Suzaku at all.

( ('_I never really wanted you to die, Lelouch. I __**never**__ wanted to hurt you. Why? After everything that happened…how could you smile at me like that? Like everything was alright. Like…you weren't about to die..._') )

The world still turns and time moves forward, but Suzaku remains stuck within the past and is haunted by the tragedy each and every night.

( (_"Was it worth it? Are you happy? I gave you what you wanted, but…you look upset. Did you want something else? Please, take it. Take whatever you want!"_

_Suzaku felt like retching. He couldn't stand this innocent charade. It left him an emotional wreck._

"_Please stop." he begged the apparition but he was only met with a glazed over stare. "Lelouch…__**please**__ leave my dreams. I can't take seeing you like this."_

_Lelouch's head cocked to the side._

"_But don't you want to see me? You said you missed me once before." the apparition stated and that awful smile of his widened. "I just want you to be happy, Suzaku."_

_Lelouch giggled._

"_So take something else! How about an eye? You're always going on about them."_

_Suzaku screamed at him._

"_**Leave me alone!**__" _

_When Suzaku bolted down the eerie hallway, Lelouch merely turned his head to stare after him._

_He never once stopped smiling._) )

It was strange. There was a time when all Lelouch could do was frown.

( (_Lelouch's smiles were always horrifyingly_ i_nnocent and completely saturated with stains of gore. It carried a beauty all its own, but it was so hideous at the same time. It disturbed Suzaku to no end._) )

But now that he only existed as a decaying manifestation in Suzaku's dreams, all Lelouch could do was smile.

( (_"Zero, I have a confession to make."_

_The steady tinkle of piano keys being pressed continued to sound as they performed a phantom melody. Zero pulled Lelouch back into his arms and they twirled around and around and around in circles When Zero stepped one way, Lelouch followed in perfect harmony and when Lelouch teasingly tried to distance himself from the dance, Zero responded as one would expect and pulled Lelouch right back in – with a feral growl even. _

_And thus the two continued to twirl in a never-ending waltz around and around the decayed morgue._

"_And what would that be?" the dark night asked. He spared a brief glance in Suzaku's direction before returning his attention to his dance partner._

_That horrifying smile of Lelouch's twisted into a sickeningly amused smirk and he made a point of leaning up to Zero's side, as if he were going to whisper a secret to him._

"_I think I like being dead."_

_And the two of them proceeded to laugh as if Lelouch's confession was the single most hilarious thing that either had ever heard._

_Suzaku could only stare at the two in horror. It was all he could ever do whenever Zero was around. Because when Zero was around, Suzaku couldn't move because he would be strapped down to a rusty wheelchair and he couldn't speak due to the piece of duct tape that had been slapped over his mouth._) )

All Lelouch could do now that he was dead was smile and it was something that would forever haunt Suzaku until the end of his days.

( (_Zero rubbed at the blood covering his lips and sighed somewhat dreamily. He seemed delighted — practically giddy — at having Lelouch's blood on him._

_It made Suzaku sick to watch. _

_Because Zero was __**always**__ like this. He always took the time to gloat and savor what Lelouch had not given Suzaku: a kiss. Suzaku felt that he wouldn't have wanted one, in any case. Lelouch's mouth had a bad habit of bleeding._

_After a moment of this, Zero stuck the blood-coated finger into his mouth before pulling it out to lap up the gore drenching his lips Once they were clean, the portion of his mask that covered his mouth slipped shut with an audible click._

_Suzaku always wondered about Zero and his mask of many doors. He seemed to have one available for both his eyes as well as his mouth. Suzaku always wondered why and if Zero had more._

_Not that Suzaku could voice these questions. Zero always kept him gagged._

_Zero suddenly giggled in a way bordering along the lines of insanity._

"_This is a punishment for you, too."_) )

-x-x-x-x-

Serena: I'm expecting freaked out reviews, but this is how it went in my head so…I SWEAR MY NEXT POST WILL BE SO FLUFFY YOUR TEETH WILL ROT FROM SUGAR. Ahem. Anyway. This is the end of it. Let me know what you thought about everything in a review, if you wouldn't mind leaving me one. You know, I ended up using a lot more symbolism than I intended to when I started this story. Most of it is really quite vague, though. Hehe~ Thank you all for sticking with me!


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